


If We Three

by nobodyzhuman



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Adorable Spencer Reid, Amused Hotch, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Tension, Bombs, Canon-Typical Violence, Confusion, Crushes, Drama, F/M, Falling In Love, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Guilt, Hotch being Awesome, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Pre-Poly, Probably More - Freeform, Romance, Secret Crush, Serial Killers, Slow Build, Teasing, Unexpected feelings, awkward moments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2019-12-25 14:45:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18263483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nobodyzhuman/pseuds/nobodyzhuman
Summary: Still tired and a little more than half asleep, he stumbled towards the bed and was ready to drop down on it when a quiet chuckle and an arm caught him.“Spencer, you gotta take your shoes and tie off at least.” Will said, already reaching for the tie and pulling it loose. For some reason Reid didn’t stop him. He could have easily swatted the shorter man’s hands away and done it himself. But instead he let Will loosen it and then ducked down so it could be pulled over his head. He tried not to blush. He told himself it was because he felt silly and not because of the warmth he felt building deep inside of him. Then he gasped, shocked when Will gave him a light shove backwards. He fell onto the bed and looked up at the man surprised.Will gave him a strange look, then knelt down and tapped at Reid’s shoes.Shoes. Reid thought tiredly, Will was going for his shoes.Hoping that Will hadn’t seen his obvious reaction to being tossed on the bed, he scooted back, making it easier for the detective, who was kneeling at the end of the bed, to reach his feet. He dropped his head back on the bed and sighed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> How the hell are their no Will/JJ/Reid stories out there!! That was the thought that made me write this haha. I love these three and I Iove them together as individual couples but always wanted to see them in a happy poly relationship. Well this is the build up to that. I really hope you guys enjoy.

**Chapter One**

**_“An unexamined life is not worth living.” -- Socrates_ **

**_Reid’s POV_ **

The elevator moved slow as it inched higher towards the floor that housed the BAU unit. Reid leaned back against the wall, looking over a file. The case had been closed but there was still something about it that bothered him and he was rereading the file, not that he really needed to. But he hoped that looking at the words and pictures again would help him place whatever it was that was nagging at him.

When the doors beeped, he closed the file with a frustrated sigh and walked into the bullpen.

He wasn’t even surprised to see the small group of women seated around his and Emily’s desks. Emily was in her chair, Garcia standing behind her. Leaving those two facing the third JJ, who was sitting perched on the edge of his desk.

“Guy’s I’m sorry,” He heard JJ say as he walked up behind her.

“Everything okay?” He asked dropping his bag and the folder down next to JJ.

Emily looked up at him, “Yeah, we were supposed to have a girl’s night,  _ but”  _ The dark-haired woman drew out the word looking pointedly looking back at JJ, “Someone forgot to call a sitter.” He saw JJ roller her eyes, “I said sorry.” The blonde muttered.

“Will working?” He asked sitting down.

“Yeah.” JJ said, looking down at him. Then she shrugged toward the other two, “What about next weekend?” she asked.

“I can watch Henry.” He said, pulling JJ’s attention back to him. He smiled and tried to ignore the way his heart always sped up when he had her full attention.

“Really Spence?” She asked smiling brightly and only years of practiced stopped a blush from covering his face. “Really.” He said nodding his head. It wasn’t like he had plans anyways, and spending the night playing games and watching silly movies with Henry was always fun. He loved spending time with his Godson.

“Thanks Spence.” JJ said hopping off his desk then bending down to hug him, he was happy to return it.

“Yay!” Garcia squealed, “Now do we leave here together or met at the bar?” The tech analyst was practically bouncing out of her skin with excitement.

The three of them quickly gathered closer together and started working out the details for their night, Reid simply picked his folder back up and started going over it again.

“Hey pretty boy,” a hand dropped on his shoulder pulling him out of his thoughts.

He looked up at Derek, “What’s up?”

“The girls said you have been sitting here staring at that for over an hour, care to share?” He sighed and tossed the file onto his desk. Derek, moved to sit on the edge of his desk. So, they now say facing each other.

“I don’t really know. There is something about the Thomas case that is bugging me.” He said, his shoulders dropping a little as he leaned back in his chair.

The Thomas case was four men murdered in their cars. Each man had been dressed in the same light blue button up shirt and black dress pants. Their hands had been zipped tied to the steering wheel, with a single gunshot to the stomach. They had been left bleeding and alone until they died from blood loss.

Jared Thomas had been the fourth victim. And the only survivor. He had lived simply because he had been late for date night with his wife and she had gotten worried. She had tracked his phone, using an app they both had in case of emergencies. Luckily when she found him, he was still alive and after calling 911, she had sat with her jacket over his stomach trying to stop the bleeding.

Thomas was also the one to bring attention to the other three victims to the Sheriff and then the BAU. The first two victims had been left outside of the city. Leaving them in the jurisdiction of a different police force. The Sheriff an older man by the name of Greene had seen Thomas and his car and recalled another victim from three weeks before. He had told them that it was a hunch that had him calling around and seeing if anyone else had a similar case. When he found two more, he called the FBI,

When Thomas had woken up after surgery, he had told the police that he had been flagged down by a young woman, whose car had broken down on the side of the road. Not knowing anything about cars, he had offered to call a tow truck, but his phone signal had been spotty and he hadn’t felt right leaving her alone on the side of the road while he found a good spot to make the call. So, he offered to drive her to the closest mechanic. She had agreed.

Only once they were in the car, she shot him in the stomach. He said it got a little fuzzy after that. He remembered her cursing and yelling at him and his clothes being removed. But he must have blacked out because he woke up sometime later to his wife screaming his name.

It took them two days to track down, Emberly Wright, a young woman who had been unstable long before her husband of two years got fed up on night and left her. Of course, it had been their anniversary and they had been out to nice dinner, hence to clothes each victim had been wearing. According to the ex-husband, who had moved to the other side of the country. After he broke it off, Emberly started harassing and stalking him, finally three months ago, he had had enough and moved away.

A week later the first victim had been found.

It seemed like an open and shut case, Thomas would live and Emberly would be sent to prison. But still something about it felt off to Reid, which is what he told Derek now.

“Do you know what it is that is buggin’ you?” Derek asked picking up the file and flipping through it. Reid sighed, “No. It’s just this feeling, like I’m missing something.”

“You’ll figure it out kid, you always do.” Derek dropped the folder, “but try not to obsess, okay?”

He nodded.

And for the rest of the day, he was able to forget about the Thomas case. He let himself get lost in the build of paper work on his desk from the last couple weeks.

Sometime later, JJ tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey, you gotta get out here.” She said with a soft smile. He looked at the time it was almost 5.

“Crap.” He cursed. JJ just chuckled. He got up and started putting his files away in his bottom drew, his hand hesitating over the Thomas file, but then he tossed it in too and grabbed his phone and bag.

“Hey spence,” JJ said as he threw his strap over his shoulder, he looked up at her, “Pick something up for dinner, would you?” She grinned at him, “I think Henry would like that more than your cooking.”  He blushed and tried to look offended at the teasing, but wasn’t able too.

“KFC okay?” He asked instead, because he knew there was one a couple blocks away from her and Will’s house. She nodded. “Thanks Spence. I already called and told Will you were on your way.”

His stomach growled as he pulled in front of JJ’s house. And he silently thanked her for telling him to get food, he had worked through lunch and if she hadn’t, he wouldn’t have remembered to eat until Henry mentioned being hungry. He got out and walked around opening his passenger door. He threw his bag over his shoulder and gathered up the two bags and bucket of food, only to have to shove the bucket of chicken into the nock of his elbow to grab the two drinks he got for him and Henry. With his arms and hands full he had to kick his door closed. Then he turned around and glared at the small gate that blocked him. He muttered a few choice words as he tried to shift one of the drinks next to the bucket without spilling it. He heard someone’s quiet laugh a few feet away and he looked up to see Will standing in the doorway, watching him. He blushed and lowered his head.

He heard Will walked down the walk away and only looked back up when he heard the gate open.

Will smiled at him, “Hey.” The cop, reached out and took the two drinks from him.

“Hey Will.” He replied following the shorter man into the house.

“Uncle Spencer!” Henry shouted as he came charging at them once they entered. The small energetic blonde wrapped himself around Reid’s legs and grinned up at him.

“I found the Jenga pieces, you can teach me how not to let it fall.” Henry let go over him and backed away,  _ “Annnnd, _ daddy said I could pick a movie for us to watch. And,” The kid went to continue but stopped with a look at the bucket in Reid’s arm, “Is that dinner? I’m starving.” Then Henry raced off to the kitchen. All while Reid and Will chuckled.

“Well I don’t think he is going to miss me.” Will said putting the two drinks down on the kitchen table. “Thanks again, Spencer.” Will patting him on the shoulder and walked over to a small cabinet. Reid knew it held a small gun safe.

“Leave it open.” He said quickly placing the food on the table.

“Will do.” Will said from behind him. He could hear Will checking his weapon over, while he removed both of his and checked the safeties on them before he turned around and headed over the the safe. Will smiled and moved out of his way, his gun and badges already in their proper places.

“You know the code?” Will asked, as Reid placed his inside.  _ Like I would ever forget,  _ he thought. It was the day JJ found out she was pregnant. A safer code then Henry’s actually birthday. She had been so nervous, she told him later, about how Will and the team would react. But also thrilled and excited, she couldn’t wait to be a mom. That he knew, he had always known she wanted to be a mom and he knew she would be a great one. JJ had a huge heart and an unnerving ability to remain calm doing the most chaotic situations. He had been happy for her. Truly he had. Even though the moment she told him, it cemented the fact that she would never be his. Sure, he had known logically that her and Will were endgame. But still a small part of him knew that things change and maybe one day he would get another chance. It was a day he would never forget even if he didn’t have an eidetic memory.

Shaking his head to clear away the thoughts he looked over his shoulder at Will and grinned, “Of course.” Will returned the grin. Something twisted in his stomach as the other man smiled happily at him.

Suddenly he needed space. “I’m going to check on Henry. He has been in there a little too long.” He tried to keep the grin on his face as he said and didn’t wait long enough to see how Will reacted. Hoping he wasn’t _ too  _ obvious, he moved quickly out of the room.

The sight of his godson was almost enough to drown out everything else.

Henry held two plates one in each hand and onto of each plate was a fork and butter knives, carefully placed in the middle. The four-year-old was watching the plates like a hawk as he stepped cautiously around the kitchen, slowly making his way out and to the table.

“Need help?” Reid asked.

Henry shook his head, not taking his eyes off the plates. Reid chuckled and stepped close behind his godson, just in case. Will had moved away from the safe and was waiting for them next to the table when they walked in. The  New Orleanian gave his son a proud and happy smile before he reached down a took one of the plates, setting it on top of the table. Then he helped Henry place the other one. And then he helped Henry climb up in the chair. Henry let out a happy giggle and grinned at both of them.

Will bent down and hugged his son, “Alright kiddo, Daddy’s got to go to work. Be good for Spencer, k.” Henry nodded. “Bye daddy.” His voice a little quiet. It told Reid and by the small frown on Will’s face that Henry wasn’t happy that his father was leaving. Will sighed and rubbed his hand through his son’s hair.

Will walked over to the coat rack and started slipping on his coat. That strange feeling in his stomach was back, so Reid turned away and started moving around and opening the food containers.

Later Spence.” Will said, as he walked out the door. Luckily his back was already to Reid. Because he couldn’t see the bewildered look on his face nor the slight blush that quickly spread along his cheeks.

No one but JJ called him Spence. _ Ever _ . Truth was he had hated the nickname when he was younger preferring to be called Reid, even then. JJ had been the first person in years to call him Spence, and he found he hadn’t minded. He had contributed it to his crush which was already massive at the time, but now he wasn’t sure. Because he found he hadn’t minded that Will just called him Spence. In fact, just like with JJ he liked it. Which confused him.  _ Why-- _

“Uncle Spencer?” Henry drew his attention back to the adorable four-year-old.

“Right.” he muttered, “I got mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, you want both?”

“Yes, please.” Henry said grinning.

Dinner was fun, and he was able to put all early thoughts out of his mind. Henry had spent the majority of the meal telling Reid about his new friend next door. A shy little girl his own age. Then they played several rounds of Jenga, by the fourth round, Henry was able to pull out the small wooden pieces without making the entire tower fall. After they watched Car’s

Then they watched Cars, Henry’s favorite movie.

Around 9, he put Henry to bed and then sprawled out on the couch with a book.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**_“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”_ **

**_― Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley_ **

**_Reid’s POV_ **

 

“Spence,” Came a whisper and a gentle shake on his shoulder.

Reid groaned as he woke up, not entirely pleased with leaving the happy dream he had been happening. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see Will instead of JJ.

“What time is it?” He mumbled more to himself then the other man, as he looked down at his watch. 2:12am.

“Where’s JJ?” He asked.

Will grinned at him, “Still out.”

“Oh.” He said, then started to push himself up off the couch. “K, give me a sec and I’ll head out.”

Will snorted, “Don’t think so. You’re still half asleep. Come on, the spare room is ready for you.” He stood frozen, taken off guard by Will’s comment. He hadn’t ever stayed the whole night before. Always leaving as soon as either Will or JJ returned home. There was a sigh from the detective, who grabbed his arm and started to drag him towards the stairs.

Reid let out a surprised squeal as his body was yanked, then before he was pulled to far away, he quickly reached down to grab his bag. After that, he had no real reason to resist the tug, so he let Will lead him up the stairs and into the spear room.

When he walked in, he noticed the bed had already been pulled down and a small throw blanket was tossed on the end.  _ How long had Will been home?  _ He thought. Still tired and a little more than half asleep, he stumbled towards the bed and was ready to drop down on it when a quiet chuckle and an arm caught him.

“Spencer, you gotta take your shoes and tie off at least.” Will said, already reaching for the tie and pulling it loose. For some reason Reid didn’t stop him. He could have easily swatted the shorter man’s hands away and done it himself. But instead he let Will loosen it and then ducked down so it could be pulled over his head. He tried not to blush. He told himself it was because he felt silly and not because of the warmth he felt building deep inside of him. Then he gasped, shocked when Will gave him a light shove backwards. He fell onto the bed and looked up at the man surprised.

That feeling of warmth intensified and he knew he was blushing even if he didn’t want to.

Will gave him a strange look, then knelt down and tapped at Reid’s shoes.

_ Shoes _ . Reid though tiredly,  _ Will was going for his shoes.   _

Hoping that Will hadn’t seen his obvious reaction to being tossed on the bed, he scooted back, making it easier for the detective, who was _kneeling_ at the end of the bed _,_ to reach his feet. He dropped his head back on the bed and sighed.

_ What the hell was going on with him? _ He didn’t react like this around people. Normally he shied away from being touched. Very few people made him feel safe or comfortable enough for them to invade his space or touch him, JJ, Morgan, and Hotch, where the main ones. But tonight, he had let drag him around, removed his tie, and actually liked it when the man had pushed him onto the bed,  _ more than liked,  _ he corrected himself, only a little freaked out about the idea.

He sighed again when he noticed he was below the pillows. He debated moving back more, but decided he was just too tired. Will tapped his leg and Reid lifted his right foot. With his eyes closed he tried to ignore the feeling of Will’s hand on his ankle, as the detective helped hold his leg up while he untied his shoe and then pulled it off. The detective didn’t say a word. Not even when he finished with the first leg and gentle placed it back against the bed and tapped his left, telling Reid to lift it. Which he did. He must have started to drift off because he woke up, kinda, when Will gently lifted his head and pushed a pillow under it. He was pretty sure he said thank you before he drifted off again.

_ Will’s POV _

Will shook his head as he watched the younger man fall asleep. JJ had told him how worried she was about her best friend. It seemed Spencer wasn’t sleeping much. JJ said the dark circle under his eyes kept getting worse and that he was drinking more coffee then his average 5 cups a day. She mentioned trying to talk to the genius about it, but that he just kept saying he was fine.

When Will had come home and seen Spencer passed out on the couch, he hadn’t had it in him to wake him up. Instead he had gone upstairs and got the spare room ready. Pulling the comforter back and finding the small throw blanket he knew Spencer favored, then he made sure the curtains were pulled closed. Hopefully this would allow Spencer would be able to sleep in, then he went down to wake the other man up.

It had been very hard not to laugh at the half-asleep agent when he stood up and swayed a little. When Spencer said he was going to go, Will had wanted to roll his eyes. Because no way would he let his son’s godfather drive when he could barely open his eyes.

He was happy to force Spence to stay the night. Though he was a little worried about the surprised look on his friends face when he had told him about the spare room.  _ Had he truly been that surprised by the offer?  _ He thought, _ maybe him and JJ would have to offer more often. Make sure Spencer knew he was welcome here. _

By the surprised look on his face and his usually avoidance to people, Will had expected some kind of resistance when he took Spencer's arm and started pulling him towards the stairs. Thought all he got was an amusing squeal and then Spencer was moving with him up the stairs and into the spare room.

He had laughed when he saw Spencer start to fall towards the bed, clearly not caring about still being dressed.

He had laughed saying, “Spencer, you gotta take your shoes and tie off at least.”

It was easy to reach out and grab the lighter man, pulling him back to his feet. The sudden shot of arousal he felt when he briefly had Spence in his arms had taken him completely by surprise. He quickly released him and moved his hands to the agents crooked tie instead. He had expected some protest. Spencer wasn’t known for letting people this close, but instead he got a wide-eyed sleepy look that made him grin. And then Spencer was leaning down and letting him pull the tie off, suddenly his mouth was dry and he found it hard to speak. He took a breath and because his brain seemed only be half working, he playfully shoved the stunned man towards the bed.

Again, he expected some kind of protest or retort but Spencer just blushed and looked confused. He realized exactly what he had done. Feeling a little guilty both towards Spencer and JJ, he dropped down to the floor, hiding from the agents gaze and started removing the younger man’s shoes.  It was made easy but Spencer making himself comfortable on the bed and cooperating with his simple taps and touches instead of making him speak. Not that he was sure he could. Not while his mind was racing over what he had just done.

By the time both of the shoes were removed and placed at the end of the bed, he had himself back in control. He sighed softly when he stood and noticed Spence had fallen back asleep. The profiler had missed the pillows and he smiled a little as he gently picked up Spencer's head and shoved a pillow under it.

“Thanks.” Spencer muttered still asleep.

He walked into his and JJ’s room, quickly getting undressed and slipping on a pair of soft cotton sleep pants and crawled into bed. Placing his phone on his night table, he sat back against his head board and tried to understand what had happened. He knew if Spencer had been a little more awake, the agent would have called him out of his odd behavior. Hell, he kinda wished he had. Because he didn’t understand why he had been in a sense flirting with his girlfriend’s best friend.

It wasn’t that Spence was a guy, he had known he as bisexual since high school and he made no secret of it from JJ. In fact, his girlfriend found it amusing. Sometimes on their nights out she would try and find a guy he found attractive. And he returned the favor by asking her about certain women. So far, they had found he was more  _ picky _ , her word, then she was. Only find a handful of men he was drawn too.

But the game had never extended to her team or their friends, not to say he hadn’t noticed how attractive each of them were, he just hadn’t actually thought about it. But tonight, something had clicked in his head as he saw Spencer sleeping on the couch. The younger man wasn’t just attractive, he was handsome maybe even captivating as he slept peacefully, book resting on his chest. Will wasn’t sure he actually realized he had thought that until just now. He sighed, he hadn’t meant to flirt, he hadn’t even been aware he was doing it until he saw the startled looking at Spencer’s face or the damn blush.  _ Fuck, what was he going to tell JJ? Or what if Spencer said something before, he could? Or worse what if Spencer took offense? _

He sighed again and scooted down, checking his phones battery before getting comfortable. In case JJ called. She had promised to take a cab home, when they were done, but he told her she could call if any of them needed a ride. He knew he would have to talk to her in morning, hopefully before Spencer said something. He just hoped he could find the right words and she wouldn’t be upset or hurt.

A short time later, he woke up to JJ trying be quiet as she moved around their room. He listened as she opened one of her drawers and then as she stripped and got changed. When she tried to sneakily crawling into bed, he reached out and pulled her down on top of him. She yelped and then giggled, letting her most of her weight rest on his chest.

“Hey you.” He whispered. Leaning forward to kiss her. All thoughts from earlier shoved aside for the sight of her. Because he loved her, wholeheartedly and without a doubt. He wasn’t going to let whatever had happened earlier with Spencer ruin this.

“Hey you.” She whispered back. Pushing herself up on her arms, then with surprising grace, given her slightly inebriated state, she climbed on top of him. Her beautiful face quickly covered by her blonde hair as it fell forward. He grinned, reaching up to push it out of the way. This time moving his head up to kiss her. Which she eagerly returned.

“Did ya have fun?” He asked when they pulled apart.

“Yeah.” she said smiling at him before dropping back down onto his chest. When she seemed to settle, he starting running his fingers through her hair. She made a please sound.

“We need to do it more off, it’s nice to blow off steam. Maybe next time we can get a sitter and invite everyone.”  She said after a few seconds.

“I’m sure Spence will love that.”  He said not really thinking about it, then he bit his lip because know was not the time to bring up their house guest.

He felt her chuckle, “he would.” She yawned, “If we found one of those bars that do trivia night.” He laughed hoping it didn’t sound a little forced. After a few minutes of silence, he could tell she had fallen asleep. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her close. Kissed her gentle on top of her head and then slowly he fell asleep.

Their sleep was ruined a few short hours later but JJ’s phone ringing.

It was ruined a few hours later by JJ’s phone ringing. His girlfriend cursed as she blindly searched for her phone. He tried not to laugh as she moved as little of her body as she could. He smiled amused and reached over her to grab it off her night table. He chuckled as he placed it in her hand, and with her eyes still closed, she answered. “Jennifer Jareau.”

He could hear someone on the other end of the phone. Then JJ sighed, “Now?”

Then she was pushing herself off of him. She looked at him, with an apologetic look and hopped off the bed. “Alright, I’ll be there in twenty.” She hung up and started moving towards their closet.

“No day off?” He asked, he had hoped to spend the day with her, he need to talk to her about last night.

“Sorry.” She whispered, walking back over and leaning over the bed to kiss him. He reached out and pulled her towards him. Bring her close enough to feel her body, and kissed her hard. She moaned and pulled back. He was tempted to wrap his arm around her and drag her back into the bed. But he knew she had to leave. He let out a breath, kissed her on the cheek and let her go.

“You might wanna wake Spencer.” He said. She raised an eyebrow at her. He gave a smile, “I put him in the spare, instead of lettin him drive home.”  

She gave a happy smile, “That’s good. He needs more sleep.” Then she sighed, “I wish he would tell me what’s bothering him.” He grabbed her hand and gave it a tender squeeze, “Have you tried askin’ again?” He asked. She nodded, “All he will tell me is that he is fine.” She rolled her eyes.

She sighed again, “I’ll go wake him,” and she walked out of the room.

Will knew he wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep. Not with JJ and Spencer moving around the house rushing to get ready. Nor with the worry about what Spencer might say about last night. He sighed, maybe he was overthinking it. Maybe Spence hadn’t noticed what he was doing? Or hell, maybe he hadn’t really been flitting. He snorted.

He climbed out of bed and headed down to the kitchen. He started the coffee pot, knowing both JJ and Spencer lived for their coffee, placing two mugs next to it. Then because he couldn’t sit still, he opened the fridge and pulled out the eggs.  _ Might as well feed them,  _ he thought.

He tried not to squirm when Spencer finally emerged. The genius gave him a shy smile and then quickly moved towards the coffee pot. Moaning happily as he drank from his mug. Will decided to ignore him and finish the eggs.

JJ was still upstairs when they finished, so he scooped some on to a plate and placed it on the table in front of Spencer who was reading over something on his phone. Though the younger man did look up and smile at him before he placed his phone the table and started eating. Will did not feel any kind of warmth at the sight of Spencer eat the food he made. At least that’s what he told himself as he walked back into the kitchen and made two more plates.

Choosing to hide away from his girlfriend’s best friend he ate his in the kitchen. JJ raised an eyebrow when she saw him, he just shook his head and handed her, her plate.

“Thanks.” She diving in right there with him.

It didn’t take long for the two agents to finish their plates and start to head out the door. Will waved Spencer off with a smile and took a deep breath before hugging JJ.

“Can we talk tonight?” He asked quietly.

She pulled back and gave him a concerned look. “Yeah, sure. Everything okay.?”

He nodded. “Just need to talk about something. Be safe.” He kissed her and then pushed her out the door. He heard her giggle as he closed it.

He gave a tired sigh and fell back against the door. With his eyes closed he didn’t see Henry until his son took his hand and started pulling him towards the couch. He opened them and smiled as they walked over and sat down. Then Henry promptly crawled into his lap and fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 

**_“When jealousy rears up, it indicates that something inside of you is afraid. It's an alarm, nothing less and nothing more. Treat it as such.”_ **

**_― Anthony D. Ravenscroft_ **

 

**_Reid POV_ **

 

Reid was a little grateful that JJ had taken her own car. While he had managed to mostly convince himself that last night had been a weird semi-lucent dream. His feelings on it were conflicted, he felt unbalanced and confused about any possible attraction towards Will. Not just because he was a man, but because he was JJ’s boyfriend. Which also left him feeling guilty. Because he shouldn’t be feeling anything towards any of his friends’ significant others.

The confusion he could deal with. He was used to being in over his head and having to muddle his way through new experiences, he had been a high school student at 12 and started college in his early teens. Unbalanced was definitely something he was used to. An attraction to a man, may have thrown him a bit, because it was new and a bit of a shock, but he was sure he would figure it out.  _ He hoped. _

But the guilt about said attraction was his biggest problem. This wasn’t the first time he had had a crush on a friend. He had had a crush on JJ from the first time he met her, but over the years he had grown accustomed to the feeling of butterflies in his stomach whenever she was around and had managed to learn to hide his reactions. Meaning most days, he could almost forget about it. JJ and the rest of the team now seemed believed it was something of the past, and he had no plans of correcting that belief.

But having a crush on JJ’s boyfriend, that just felt  _ bad _ . JJ had been single when his feelings for her developed. He had never been drawn to someone already in a committed relationship, it felt distasteful. Add in that Will was JJ’s and it just made him feel miserable, like he was doing something wrong to his friend. Even if he never acted on it.

He shook his head as he exited the elevator. He had to stop thinking about this. Seeing Morgan and Emily already in the bullpen, he made his way towards them.

“Hey guys.” he said with a smile.

“Hey pretty boy.” Morgan said.

“You’re looking better.” Emily added in lieu of hello. He tilted his head at her, confused at what that meant. Morgan chuckled, “She means, you look like you got some sleep last night.”  _ Oh.  _ He thought.

“Yeah, I feel asleep watching Henry.” He said, moving towards his desk. Hoping to avoid any more conversation about last night.

“Guys.” Hotch called from by his office, “Round room. Now.” Then their team leader walked away.

He watched Hotch go for a moment, thinking maybe he could take to him. Not about the who but about the strange new feelings. Hotch had always been a good listener and had helped him more than once when he was feeling lost. However, he wasn’t too sure, he wanted to have that conversation yet. He sighed and followed his friends into the Round Room. Garcia and Rossi already there. JJ somehow coming in behind him, without him noticing her. He gave her a smile and they all took their seats.

“Alright, my lovelies,” Garcia started, “The reason we have been called in at this ridiculous early hour is a possible kidnapping. This is,” The tech pulled up a picture of a young blonde teen probably about 16 years old.

“Jesse Macaroy, 15, two nights ago her mother, Andrea Davis, called 911 saying that her daughter had disappeared. When questioned by the police she said she had run out to the store to grab groceries for dinner, when she left Jesse had been doing homework. When she arrived home a short time later, Jesse was gone. She said she checked the house, called the girl’s phone, and then all of her daughters’ friends. When after 2 hours she couldn’t find her or anyone who had spoken to her, she called the police.”

Garcia pulled up a couple more photos of the house, one of the living room. Two of the kitchen and two more of what had to be the girl’s bedroom.

“The detective that took the call, said the mother seemed genuinely worried about her daughter. Though when he had looked around the house, he said he felt something was off. He sent us these.” She said as she zoomed in on the picture of the living room. Her arrow on the picture, went over what appeared to be a pile of books scattered off the small coffee table, in an otherwise spotless room. It looked as if they had been thrown, instead of placed or accidently dropped.

Then Garcia pulled up the two pictures of the kitchen side by side, in the first photo, Reid could see pieces of a broken plate by the refrigerator, it looked like someone had tried to clean it up but missed a couple small chunks. And in the second photo was a small drop of blood at the edge of the sink.

The last two pictures, the two of the girl’s bedroom. Showed a mess. Clothes and belonging thrown and scattered around the room. It could be that the girl was just messy, but the dresser drawers had been pulled up and left that way. Reid swallowed. It did look like something happened in the house.

“Could to mother be involved?” Rossi asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room.

“Detective Johnson, isn’t sure. He says her tears and worry felt genuine. And her alibi is true. The local store has video of her shopping for over 40 mins before she leaves. The drive home took less than 10 mins. Though the two hours between when she got home and when she called 911, she could have done something. But the dried blood was several hours old when the cops arrived.” Hotch said, “We can’t rule her out.”

Their team leader nodded towards Garcia. Who clicked her remote and another phone came up, This time of a middle-aged man, salt and pepper hair and graying beard.

“This is Daniel Macaroy. Jesse’s father. It seems Mommy and Daddy have been fighting over custody for years. Andrea Davis always manages to remain with full custody while Daniel gets supervised visits. When asked if anyone would want to take Jesse, Andrea said Daniel, that he had run out of money to fight her in court and that he had threatened to take their daughter away from her more than once.

“Why were we called in?” JJ asked, “If they have a suspect and the detective seems to have it under control, why do they need the BAU?

Garcia sighed, but it was Hotch that answer, “Three reasons, Macaroy lives here in Virginia, while his ex-wife and daughter live in West Virginia, if he took her, it’s possible he crossed state lines.” A pause, “There is also the concern about his mental state, according to the ex-wife, her and her husband split because he wasn’t unstable and she was worried about what he might do to their daughter. It is believed we would better luck of talking him down, if the need arises, then an average police officer. And the third reason, because Andrea Davis is the daughter of once big shot West Virginia lawyer and now Senator Jeremy Davis.”  

“Where are we starting?” Emily asked.

“Rossi and I, are going to wait here for the mother to arrive, Detective Johnson is driving her into town and they should be here in a couple of hours. We will also try reaching out to some of Jesse’s friends, they may have some helpful information. Morgan and Reid, I want you to drive out Aquia Harbour, Macaroy’s brother lives out there. See if he has spoken to or seen his brother in the last few days. Prentiss and JJ, will head out to Macaroy’s house, the locals have already been there but I want you two to look around and talk to his neighbors.” When Hotch finished everyone got up and started gathering their things.

Reid bet Derek to their SUV, already sitting in the passenger side when the other man opened the driver side and climbed in.

“You okay kid?” Derek asked as they pulled out of the garage and started driving towards the highway.

“Yeah why?” He asked, fighting the urge to fidget with his seat belt.

“Reid, you didn’t quote one obscure fact during the briefing.”

“It takes 4 hours and 52 minutes to drive from Charleston, West Virginia to Richmond Virginia.” He rattled off not looking at his friend.

He heard Morgan sigh, “Talk to me kid, what’s going on?”

“I’m fine. Just have a lot on my mind.” He said, looking over and giving the other man a small smile. He could tell Morgan wanted to push but the man just looked back at the road. “You know i’m here if you need to talk, right?”

“I know.” He said.

The rest of the drive was fairly quiet.

When they pulled in front of Thomas Macaroy’s house, the man was already outside. He had an old beat up trucks hood open and was leaned over looking inside. Though when he heard their SUV, he stopped and looked up.

“Can I help you gentlemen?” He asked when they approached. Reid was already watching the man’s body language. He seemed calm, no shaking hands, sweating, or shifting. Maybe he didn’t know what was going on.

“I am SSA Derek Morgan and this is Dr. Spencer Reid, we are here looking for your brother, Daniel. Have you seen him?”

The man gave them a confused look, “Is Danny in trouble?” He placed his wrench on his truck and walked closer to them. “And no, I haven't seen him. Not in a couple weeks.”

“I take it you haven’t been alerted that your niece Jesse is missing?” Reid asked.

The man spun in head to look at him, mouth wide, “What? Jesse? What happened?” The words were rushed and even a little panicked. Reid could see Morgan watching the man from the corner of his eye, he seemed genuinely surprised.

“That’s what we are trying to figure out.” Morgan said, “Jesse’s mother reported her missing and there were signs in the house of someone struggling. It has come up that your brother had been fighting over custody with his ex-wife for years and no long has the means to keep fighting.”

Thomas cursed, “That’s bullshit. Danny maybe have been on a tighter budget lately but me and our sister have been helping him pay his lawyer fees for years. And we wouldn’t have stopped now. Not with Jesse, at an age where she can tell the judge where she would rather live.” Reid looked at Morgan, who raised his eyebrow. They would have to have Garcia look into the sibling’s financials.

“And if my brother had gone to get Jesse, there wouldn’t have been a struggle. That girl loves her father. She has been begging him for years to come live with him.” The man finished dropping his head.

“Was she hurt?” He asked after a second, looking up at Morgan. “You said there was signs of a struggle was Jess hurt?”

“We don’t think so.” Reid said, after all the single drop of blood found. Could have been from something else or even from someone else. They had to wait for DNA results back.

The man nodded. “Can you keep me updated. Or maybe I can come down to the station.”

Morgan gave the man a strange look that only Reid saw, “You can drive down if you wish. It might make it easier, if we have any more questions.” Than Morgan took out his card and handed it to the man. “If you think of anything before you get there. Please call me.” The man nodded. “I will.”

Then Reid and him walked back and got into the car, as they drove away Reid looked at his friend, “What do you think?”

“I think we need more background on Thomas and this sister. Also, I think we needed to check into past court dates, he seemed positive that Jesse wanted to live with her father. See if we can find anything that backs that. However, I think he knows something, he never offered to call his brother. Not to see if he had spoken to Jesse, nor to see where he was.”

“Which means he already knows.” Reid added.

“You feel like we are missing something here?” Morgan asked.

 

**_I want young people to know that they can belong - whatever your culture, your religion, your sexuality - that you can live life how you want to live it and feel comfortable how you are. --Jessie J_ **


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have 17 chapters for this planned and 8 of those are already written. :) Please remember Kudos and Commments are always welcomed. And if you see an error it's all me, as I have no beta read for this. Just let me know and I'll fix it. Thanks.

**Chapter 4**

_JJ’s POV_

 

**_Uncertainty is the worst of all evils until the moment when reality makes us regret uncertainty._ **

**_\--Alphonse Karr_ **

 

She couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. Not since Will had asked her if they could talk later. She was worried that something was wrong or that Will was about to deliver some bad news. She tried to ignore it on the drive over and for a few minutes during their briefing she had managed to put it at the back of her mind. But with the quiet drive out to Daniel Macaroy’s house gave her far too much free time to overthink and worry. But the time they pulled into Macaroy’s driveway she had convinced herself that Will was going to leave her. She sighed and pulled out her phone.

 **“What did you want to talk about?”** She texted. Then pocketed her phone and followed Emily out of the car and into the house. The place wasn’t spotless like the ex-wives but it wasn’t a disaster area like she had been expecting.

They split up while they searched over the house.

Her phone beeped while she was in the master bedroom, a short time later.

 **“Honey, its nothing. I just have something on my mind. I want to talk about. :)**.” Will sent back. It should have given her some sense of relief. But the fact that he still hadn’t said what it was. Bothered her.

“Everything okay?” Emily asked coming into the room.

She exhaled and turned around, “Will said he wanted to talk this morning.”

“Uh oh.” Emily said with a frown.

“That's what I thought. But he swears it's nothing. Just him needed to clear his mind.” She walked into the closet and started searching through it.

“You believe him?” She heard Emily ask, as her partner started going through the dresser.

“I don’t know. I don’t think he has ever said I need to talk, at least not in the tone he did this morning. Not in all the years we have been together.” She walked back out of the closet, having found no signs of Jesse in there. And from the slam of the last draw, Emily hadn’t found anything either.

“You guys been fighting?” Emily asked, “And no sign of Jesse in the bathroom or kitchen, either. If he took her, they haven’t been here and had no plans of coming here.” They walked out of the room.

“Let’s talk to the neighbor.” She sighed, “and no, I thought we were in a good place. No fighting. We have been working less cases, so we are seeing each other more. I honestly don’t know what he could want to talk about. Maybe that’s why I’m so worried. Because it came out of nowhere.”

Emily stopped and turned to look at her, “Give him a chance. That man is crazy about you. Maybe it is just something he needs to talk about. Maybe something from work?”  She said with a small shrug.

“Maybe.” JJ agreed, though the feeling in her stomach said otherwise.   

They didn’t make it to the neighbor’s house. Both of their phones beeped as they exited the house. A message from Hotch, telling them to return to Quantico. Daniel Macaroy had been spotted...Jesse hadn’t been.

 

The team was already there when they returned. Garcia had the monitors in the Round Room queued up and JJ could see couple cameras from a small gas station. One showed Daniel’s red Honda getting gas. The other showed him inside, the man moved like he had nothing to worry about. He smiled and talked to the young man behind the counter bought a drink and returned to his car and drove off.

“Rossi, JJ, I want you to go talk to the employee at the gas station. See if he noticed anything weird or off about Mr. Macaroy.” Hotch ordered, before pulling out his phone and walking out of the room.

Hours later, JJ felt the drive had been pointless. Randy the talkative gas station employee had had plenty to say, none of it useful. According to him Macaroy had come in paid for gas, a drink, thanked him, all friendly like and left.

They had returned to Quantico to find, that the rest of the team hadn’t found anything useful either. Hotch had spoken to Jesse’s mother, but the woman had been a crying mess and he had asked the detective to bring her back in the morning after she had a chance to rest. After that the team was told to go home and get some sleep, they would pick it up again in the morning.

By the time she made it home, Will was rushing out the door for work.

She sighed, so much for talking.

 

She thought about waking him up the next morning. Just to get it over with. But that small nagging voice in the back of her head, the one saying it was bad news stopped her. Instead, she snuck around the room gathered her stuff and got dressed in the bathroom down the hall. She felt a little silly doing it, not that it stopped her. Then she crept back into their room, kissed him on the forehead, did the same with Henry, and left for work.

When she walked into the bullpen, she noticed Hotch’s office light was on. She wasn’t surprised to see he was the first one in.

She walked over and knocked on his open door. “Hey, shouldn’t you be getting some sleep?” She teased. He looked up at her a half smile, “House is too quiet. Jack’s at his aunts.”

“Well you are always welcome to borrow Henry, how one little boy can sound like a herd of wild animals, I’ll never know.”

Hotch’s smile grew, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Anything new come up?” She asked leaning against the door. Hotch sighed.

“What the brother said is true. Him and their sister Molly, have been helping pay their brother’s lawyer fees for five years. So, I doubt they would have just stopped now. And Garcia searched the court records and Jesse’s social media, that’s where we found some discrepancies.” JJ raised a brow.

“Well the records and transcripts back Andrea’s claims of past abuse and worry about Macaroy’s mental state. However, Jesse’s facebook post’s show, love and fondness towards her father. Even posts about wishing to live with him and hating how they never get to spend time together without her mother around. In fact, according to Garcia, the only hostilely Jesse shows its towards her mother. Blaming her for never getting to see her father, and quite a few posts about fighting and arguing with her mother.”

“Normal teenage I hate my parent fighting?” She asked, “Or abuse fighting?” Again, her boss sighed.

“Garcia can’t tell. It seems a number of the posts were deleted or edited after they were posted. She’s trying to see if she can find more.” He stood up. “Come with me.”

She followed him into the round room. A large pile of papers were stacked on the edge.

“The posts?” She asked already moving to sit down. He nodded.

“Garcia printed off as many as she could find. That might be relevant. I was hoping you might spot something useful.” She looked up at him, noticing he looked worn out. _Just like Reid,_ she thought.

“I got this. Why don’t you go crash on the couch of yours? I’ll wake you in a while.” He looked about ready to arguing, but a chuckle from the door had them both turning to look.

“David.” Hotch greeted the older man.

“She’s right. Aaron, go lay down. We got this.” And where Hotch would have protested against her, he just glared at the other man. Then sighed and walked out of the room.

She smiled at Rossi, “Morning.”

He smiled back, “Morning. Now what did I just sign up for.” She laughed and told him.  

Sometime later, Spencer joined them at the table. He was quiet in his greeting and then fell completely silent as he read over his pile of papers. It felt _off._ And she wasn’t the only one to notice, she caught Rossi giving their genius a few worried looks as well. They even shared a quiet look of concern. But before either of them could say anything Emily and Derek walked in.

“Hey everyone.” Emily greeted them, taking the empty seat between Rossi and Spencer. A round of greetings went around the room. JJ found herself watching her friend, he seemed to visible relax when Derek and Emily entered the room, and she wondered what was going.

“Hey, JJ. I want to try talking to the brother again. Wanna come with?” He asked, not sitting down. Part of her wanted to stay, try and get a moment with Spence, ask what was going on. But when she caught his eye and he quickly looked away, she figured maybe he needed time.

“Yeah, let’s go.” She got to her feet, “Rossi, don’t forget Hotch.” She said with a grin before leaving the room.

 

 

**_The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent full of doubt. --Bertrand Russell_ **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_ Hotch’s POV _

**_I have learned that friendship isn't about who you've known the longest, it's about who came and never left your side. --Yolanda Hadid_ **

 

When David woke him up, he was surprised to find he gotten a couple hours of sleep. He hadn’t slept much in the last couple nights. Truth was he had a hard time sleeping on the nights Jack wasn’t home. He knew his son was safe with his aunt but he still was prone to over worrying when his son wasn’t home.

“Where are we?” he asked sitting up.

“Garcia thinks she found something. Figured I would wake you up, so she only had to go over it once.” David said.

“Alright, let’s go.” He said grabbing his jacket off the end of the couch and slipping it on. When they entered the Round room, everyone but JJ and Morgan were present.

“Where are the others?” he asked taking his seat.

“Morgan wanted to take to the brother again.” Reid said, “Probably because he made a big deal about coming here yesterday, but never showed.” The where was a slight shrug of the younger man’s shoulders. And Hotch found himself studying Reid. He had noticed something was off, but he had ignored it because he knew Reid. If something was bothering him, he liked to work it out on his own, or when he was ready, he would reach out. Hotch only stepped in if it was interfering with the young man’s work. So far it hadn’t been. But this quiet, almost invisible Reid didn’t sit right with him. Maybe he would pull him aside later and talk to him.

“They should be back soon.” Emily said. Making him think back to what they had been talking about. He nodded his head and waved at Garcia to tell them what she found.

“Well turns out that Oscar Macaroy, Daniel and Thomas’s father used to have a boat. It had belonged to his father until he passed away. Then went to Oscar. Now I can’t find any record of it going to either brother, nor their sister, after their father passed. In fact, it took me a while to find any record of it period. It seems it has been docked at a local marina for 10 years. A PO box on the checks for dock fees and it has been maintained.” She looked at the team.

“If I wanted a place to hide. This would be it.”

“Well done, Garcia.” He said standing up, “Reid with me. David call Morgan and JJ, tell them what’s going on. Emily, I want you to call Jesse’s mother, she should have been here already, see where she is and see about getting her in here to talk.” He heard Reid follow him out of the room.

When they entered the elevator, the younger man was fidgeting with his bag and looking anywhere but at Hotch.

“What’s going on Reid?” He asked. Reid’s shoulders slumped forward and his favorite bookworm frowned.

“I…” Reid started, but the elevator beeped and opened the doors.

Hotch was worried that the elevator interruption had had Reid reconsidering talking to him. Because the younger agent had fallen silent and for the first ten minutes of the drive.

“Have you ever experienced something that makes you rethink something you thought you already knew about yourself?” Reid asked. “Not something traumatic or life altering,” He added, before Hotch could say anything. “But just a moment, that takes you by surprise and leaves you…”

“Lost?” Hotch guessed. He could see Reid nod out of the corner of his eyes.

“Tell me what happened?” He said, feeling like Reid wanted to talk about it. And knowing that if Reid didn’t, he wouldn’t. He saw Reid bit his lip, clearly debating with himself about sharing.

“Spencer,” He said, choosing to use the man’s first name to make a point, “Whatever you tell me, stays with me.” Reid nodded, like he already knew that.

“I…” There was a deep breath, “I found myself attracted to a man.” Another breath, “Sexually, I mean.”

“Spencer--”

“Logically,” The young man cut him off, “I know it’s okay. That there is nothing wrong with it. But I’ve never experienced that before. I feel like if I was going to be attracted to men I would have been before. Not this sudden revelation. I keep thinking about it. Like maybe it was a fluke or I misinterpreted something.” Seeing where this rambling was headed, Hotch reached over and grabbed Reid’s shoulder, keeping his eyes on the road and other hand on the wheel.

“Stop.” Reid’s mouth audibly snapped shut, “Spencer, despite how intelligent you are and how much of the world you have seen. You are still young. Experiencing new things is going to happen. And finding out you don’t quite have yourself figured out, is okay. As for your attraction, Spencer, you know there is nothing wrong with it, right?” He asked, looking over at the young man he could feel shaking under his hand. He knew Reid had said logically there was nothing wrong with it, but he needed to hear that Reid say knew it was okay.

“I know.” Reid muttered. “I think I just need to wrap my mind around it.” Reid sent him a quick smile and Hotch gave his shoulder a tight squeeze before pulling it away and putting it back on the wheel.

The last few minutes of the drive were quiet.

As they parked at the marina, he grabbed Reid’s arm stopping him from getting out. Reid looked up and gave him a worried look. He smiled.

“Reid, I’m here if you need someone to talk to. It might help. And you know all of us have your back and will support you, you know that right?” He said, hoping to reassure the young man, but a sad look crossed Reid’s face. It was gone in a flash, but Hotch was positive he saw it.  _ Now what the hell had that been about? _

“I know.” Reid said, pulling his arm free and getting out of the car.

Hotch followed finding himself confused.  _ Had someone already said something to upset Reid?  _ He wondered, but that didn’t make sense. He knew his team. None of them would have a problem with if Reid turned out to be gay or Bi. Or at least he had thought so, but that look, told him something else was going on. He sighed, hating that he didn’t know what to do.

To both of their surprise Daniel Macaroy was sitting on the deck of his father's boat drinking a beer, looking perfectly happy. Hotch exchanged a look with Reid, they both pulled their guns.

“Daniel Macaroy,” He called out, seeing the man set down his beer and stand up. He gave them both a look and held up his hands.

“Can I help you officers?” The man asked, smiling.

It made him uncomfortable.

“We are looking for Jesse, Mr. Macaroy, is she here?” He asked, walking slowly towards the man.

“Why would Jess be here?” The man asked, still not lowering his hands.

“Your ex-wife has accused you of taking her.” Reid said from behind Hotch.

“Well Jesse isn’t here. And my ex-wife is a lair.” The man said, sending a glare at Reid, like he had been the one to accuse him.

Reid didn’t sound fazed as he asked, “Is there anyone else on the boat?”

“Nope, just me.”

“Mr. Macaroy, I’m going to handcuff you and my partner is going to search your boat, is that alright?” He asked moving to stand just out of the man’s reach.

The man nodded.

“You have the wrong man.” Daniel said as Hotch handcuffed him. “Please tell me you are looking at other people then me?” He asked turning to look over his shoulder at him.

“We are looking into all possibilities.” He answered, pushing the man to move forward so that Reid could walk back them to start searching the boat. He kept his ears trained on the younger man as he moved around the small boat.

It took about 10 minutes before Reid shouted, “Clear.” and came up back up to join them on deck. Hotch wanted to curse, he has hoped they would find her. And with Daniel in custody, he wasn’t sure they had another lead on where to look for her.

Daniel Macaroy didn’t resist or argue when they loaded him into the SUV and drove him back to Quantico. But still there was something about the ease the man sat. That had Hotch on edge.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

**Chapter 6:**

_ Hotch’s POV _

 

**_I have a theory that all abuse, no matter what kind of abuse it is, is foremost an assault on the mind._ **

**_\--Tara Westover_ **

 

He had sent Reid off to see if Garcia had found anything else that might be helpful to the case. Then he stood outside the two-way mirror watching and Emily and David entered the room and say across Macaroy. He was hoping that Rossi’s calm demeanor and Emily’s lead back attitude might relax the guy enough to get something out of him.

“Hello, Mr. Macaroy, I’m SSA David Rossi and this Emily Prentiss, can we ask you a few questions about your daughter?” David asked already sitting down.

“Go ahead.” The man said.

“When was the last time you saw Jesse?” Emily

“Last month on my supervised visit.” The man sneered, clearly not happy about the situation. But they had already known that.

“And the last time you talked to her?” Emily asked.

“Her mother  _ allows  _ one call every Friday night. So, three days ago.”

“Do you know anyone who might have taken her?” David asked.

Macaroy jaw clenched.  “No.”

Morgan walked in the room. But didn’t say anything.

“Mr. Macaroy,” David tried in a calm low voice, “We are trying to find your daughter. Please if you have any information, help us.” The man glared at David.

“I don’t. And you are wasting your time sitting here questioning me.”

“His angry.” Morgan said.

“But about what?” Hotch asked, looking over at Morgan.

“What do you mean?” Morgan asked.

“Look at him, the only emotion he is clearly displaying  _ is _ anger. I don’t see any concern or worry. Nor remorse.” Hotch said, looking back at the man.

“Do you think she’s dead?” Morgan asked with a heavy sigh.

At first didn’t he didn’t answer the other man, not because he didn’t like the answer but because he wasn’t sure. There was something about the father and his love for his daughter. He had seen real emotion when he talked about her. If he had killed her, Hotch was sure Macaroy would be showing signs of remorse.

“No,” he finally said, “I think she’s alive. And I think we are asking the wrong questions.”

“What’d you mean?” Morgan asked.

“Not sure yet, but I want to speak with Andrea Davis before I speak with Macaroy. Tell Emily and David to move on to what it would be like if he had had custody. See how his reactions and emotions change. I’ll be back.”  He left Morgan knowing the other man would do as he ordered and would keep an eye on the rest of the interview for him. Then he went out to bullpen to see if Jesse’s mother had shown up yet.

Andrea Davis was standing in the middle of the bullpen talking to Reid, an older man next to her. The man stood too close to be her lawyer and the comforting way he had his hand on her shoulder spoke said he knew her well enough to offer support. If Hotch had to guess, the man was her father.

“Ms. Davis.” He said approaching from behind Reid. The woman nodded. Her eyes and cheeks tear stained and red. “I know you have already spoken to the police but I would like to ask you a few questions. Is that alright?” She looked to the man beside her, who nodded.

“Yes.” she nodded.

Hotch looked at the man, “And you are?” The man’s jaw clenched.  _ The man didn’t like not being recognized,  _ Hotch noticed.

“Jeremy Davis. Jesse is my granddaughter. Please if there is anything I can do to help. Let me know.” The man reached into his pocket and  _ actually  _ pulled out a card. From the angle he was standing he saw Reid bit his lip, possible to stop a comment about it, but the younger man did raise an eyebrow when he noticed Hotch looking at him.

“Will you be joining us, Mr. Davis.” The man’s eyes narrowed, and Hotch was getting the impression this man liked to feel important and being called Mr. instead of Senator had pissed him off.

“Yes, my daughter has been a wreck since finding Jesse missing. I would like to be there for her. For support.” From the frown on Reid’s face, the young genius didn’t believe him. Not that Hotch did either.

“Right this way.” He put them in the room across from Macaroy.

When everyone was seated, Hotch nodded to Reid, telling him to start.

“Ms. Davis, can you please tell me what happened the other night.”

The woman sent a sloppy glare at Reid, “I already told the police, do I really have to go over that again.” She sounded strained and upset, but her eyes held frustration.

“We need to hear it from you.” Hotch said, before she could take any anger or frustration out on Reid.

“Okay.” She said as she took a breath, “Jesse had been doing her homework. I was about to start dinner, only we didn’t have everything I needed. So, I told her I would be right back. Then I went shopping. When I came home, I started putting things away and getting out the pan I needed. But I needed her help, cutting up the carrots. So, I called her name, a couple times. I got frustrated thinking she had her damn headphones in so I went up to her room and banged on her door. When she didn’t answer, I opened it. Only she wasn’t there. So, I called her name again and again. I searched the bathroom, the living room, even the backyard. When I couldn’t find her, I tried calling her cell phone. But she didn’t answer. I called Janice, Jesse’s best friend Hanna's mother, but she wasn’t there. I started to get really worried so I called the police.” She was crying again. And Reid handed her a box of Kleenex.

“Was the front door closed?” Reid asked after giving her a second to collect herself. Andrea nodded.

“What about her door?” He asked, watching her closely. The woman shook her head, then stopped and nodded.

“What happened before you left for groceries?” He asked.

She looked up at him, “What do you mean?”

“Just what was going on before you started dinner. Was Jesse acting oddly? Was she upset or maybe angry about something?” Andrea’s eyes narrowed and Jeremy cleared his throat.

“Agent what does this have to do with that man taking my granddaughter.” The senator glared

“We have to cover every base. And making sure she was taken is important.” He said.

“Nothing happened.” Andrea said, “We watched tv, then I told her to do her homework. That’s it.”

“Can you explain the blood by the sink?” Reid asked. Both Davises’ turned to him, Andrea looked offended and Jeremy, well he seemed surprised.

“Blood?” The man asked. Reid nodded.

“There were a few drops of blood by the sink.” He said to the senator, but didn’t take his eyes off Andrea.

“I thought the police said, Daniel hurt himself or Jesse when he came and took her away.” Andrea said, more tears falling down her face.

“Like I said before cover all our bases. If we knew it was yours or Jesse’s from before. We would know it’s not important to the case.” He said, watching as she looked around the room.

“I don’t know what it’s from.” Her voice wavered, and Hotch had seen enough distraught family members in his career to know she was laying it on thick. He was starting to get the idea, that Andrea was lying, and he knew Macaroy was lying. He just couldn’t tell what they were lying about. The two clearly hated each other, so the odds of them working together to do something to their daughter was unlikely. But neither of them seemed open to giving his team the truth, and it pissed him off. They were putting their daughter at risk, by lying.

“What about the broken plate in the kitchen?” He asked, “Or the scattered books in the living room.” Andrea’s head dropped and heard her let out a sob.

“The police said she struggled.” She gasped, and Hotch wanted to strangle the detective she talked to.

“If you will excuse us.” He said, grabbing Reid’s arm and pulling him out of the room. To his credit the younger man went with it.

“She’s lying.” He said, once the door was closed.

“Crocodile tears,” Reid said, causing Hotch to look up at him with a raised brow.

“Fake or insincere tears. It comes from the belief that crocodiles--” He held up his hand to stop the rambling before it began.

“I know.” He gave Reid a smile.

“I need to speak with Macaroy again.” He said.

“Should I go back in there or wait?” Reid asked.

“Wait.” Hotch said, then he opened the door across from the one he just closed. When he entered Emily look grateful as she got up and left the room. Rossi tilted his head, silently asking if he wanted him to stay, he shook his head.

When his team mates where both gone, he sat down.

“Alright Macaroy, I’m going to be blunt. I think you are lying. I think your brother is lying, and I think your ex-wife is lying. Now that leaves me with two options, the first, is you all did something to Jesse and are covering it up. Or one of you did something and the rest of trying to protect the other.” He didn’t actually believe either theory.

Macaroy’s eyes narrowed and Hotch could feel him studying him.

“What did Andrea tell you about me?” He asked after a moment.

“Nothing. I didn’t ask.” He answered truthfully.

The man tilted his head. “Why not.”

“Because you and your ex clearly dislike each other and have been fighting over custody of your daughter for years, the odds that she would tell me the unbiased, unexaggerated truth was slim.” He said leaning back.

Macaroy sighed and leaned forward resting his head on his arms. After a second, he sat back up.

“She’s unstable.” Daniel said quietly.

“Jesse?” Hotch asked. The man shook his head.

“Andrea. When Jesse was a baby, I would come home from work and find that Andrea and put her in a crib and left. Just left. But she wouldn’t let me hire a babysitter. Then when Jesse started walking, Andrea bought one of those backpack things with the leash? You the one you see at parks?” Hotch nodded, “And she would put it on Jesse and tie the leash end around the couch leg or a door handle, and she would just leave Jesse there, while she watched tv or talked on the phone.” Hotch watched as the man took a forceful breath, trying to calm himself.

“When Jesse was four. I had been called out to work, and Andrea was pissed. She had made plans to go out with her friends. When I got home later that night, she had locked Jesse in the bathroom. She had left a couple bottles of juice and some snacks. Jesse as curled up in the bathtub sobbing. It took me hours to calm her down and get her to sleep. When Andrea came home, we fought so loud the neighbors called the cops.

Andrea sweet talked. Brought up her father and then lied about everything, saying I had been drinking and that I had been jealous of her flirting with a guy at the club. They wouldn’t even listen to me. I knew then that I had to get out. So, two weeks later I filed for divorce.”

The man looked at him in the eye, “She didn’t fight me on that. But the second I tried filling for custody of Jesse. She grew angry. And when I went to our first court hearing. There were abuse and neglect charges against me. I was blindsided. And the judge didn’t believe me when I said it was bullshit. My lawyer tried to find out how they just appeared. But they were backdated and witnessed. He said without proof there was no way he could discredit them. Those charges have made it impossible for me to get Jesse. Not to mention at ever hearing Jeremy is there. Sitting with his crying daughter, telling about how horrible I was to his daughter. That bastard knows its crap, he is probably behind the fake reports. He knows his daughter isn’t right. But that would ruin his image of a family man and his perfect family.” The man closed his eyes and dropped his head back onto his arms.

Hotch watched him for a second. He believed him. This conversation was the first time the man hadn’t been hiding his emotions and he after talking to Andrea and her father, he could see it. Her father covering for her to protect his career.

“Mr. Macaroy,” The man raised his head to look at him, “Where is your daughter?”

The man fell silent.

“Mr. Macaroy, I get that you are trying to protect her. But you yourself just said how powerful Andrea’s father is. They are pushing that you kidnapped her. And if they can make that stick you will go to prison.” He tried to reason with the man.

“It won't stick.” The man muttered against his arms.

“What do you mean?” Hotch asked.

The man looked up at him, “There has to have been a kidnapping in order to be charged with one.”

“You didn’t take your daughter?” He asked.

The man shook his head.

“But you know where she is?” He asked. Because the man didn’t seem worried about Jesse’s whereabouts. He hadn’t been since Hotch had met him.

“She is safe.”

Hotch sighed. He was about to push, when someone knocked at the door.

“Come in.” He called out.

JJ stuck her head in, “His brother is here. He wants to see him.”

He stood up and followed her out.

“Are we sure the brother doesn’t have Jesse?” He asked when the door closed behind him.

“We searched. And Garcia can’t find any other places they could have hidden her.”

“Give me a minute. Take his brother to my office.”

He didn’t sit down this time when he entered the room.

“When can charge you and your brother with obstruction.” He said.

The man glared at him, “Bullshit.”

“Tell me what happened, that night Jesse went missing.” He leaned back, resting against the wall.

“I can’t.” Macaroy muttered.

“Why not.” He asked.

“Because…” He looked up at Hotch, “Do you have children?”

Hotch nodded.

“Then you would do whatever to protect them right? Even if it means going to jail?” The man looked so sincere that Hotch had to nod. He was getting the idea, that Jesse hadn’t been taken. Probably ran away, but she had called her father. Probably told him where she was. And now he was going to do everything he could to protect her.

“You know, I have this technical analyst, Garcia. She can find just about anything. Like your daughters Facebook posts about how much she loves you and wants to live with you. She can also find phone records. See, I’m betting if I have her go over your brother’s phone records from the night Jesse disappeared, she will find a call from the West Virginia area code. And I think that is where your daughter called you from. And I think she is still there.” He moved to open the door.

“ _ Wait!” _ Macaroy shouted rushing to his feet.  _ “Please.” _ The man added, reaching for his arm.

Hotch wasn’t feeling threatened so he didn’t shake him off.

“Tell me what happened?” He gestured to the seats. They both sat down.

“A week ago, Jesse called me.” Macaroy started, “She was hysterical, crying and begging me to come get her.” He shook his head, “She told me that Andrea had gone off on her. Telling Jesse that she was ruining her life and that Jesse was worthless. Throwing things around the living room even throw Jesse’s dinner plate at her. It sliced her cheek pretty good. I have pictures, then Jesse said, she just got calm and said she was going to get food and for Jesse to clean up the mess. She ran to a friend’s house instead, and called me.” He sighed, “I told her to stay if she could stay there. Her friend’s mom said of course. So, as I drove down, I called my brother told him what happened and asked what I should do. He said he knew a lawyer in West Virginia and that he would call me back. By the time I made it Jesse. We had a plan.” He reached up and ran his hand through his hair.

“I just need a little more time. Please?” Daniel begged, and as a father Hotch wanted too. But has an FBI agent he knew he couldn’t.

“What’s the plan?” He asked.

“Jesse and her friend’s mom, where to go to the lawyer, tell him everything from the things that happened when she was a kid, the custody battle, the false reports, and the fight. And see if he, without interference from Jeremy Davis, could help. I got a call on my cell before you showed up, the lawyer had something. He told me that he could do it, and warned me that I was probably going to be picked up soon and that I should remain quiet for as long as I can and then ask for a lawyer.”

“You’re stalling.” Hotch said, “At least until whatever it is this lawyer has planned goes through.” The man nodded, his eyes still pleading with Hotch to help.

Hotch sighed, “I’ll be back.”

He stood up and walked out of the room. David leaving the room from behind the mirror at the same time.

“You believe him?” Hotch nodded.

“What are we going to do?” He chuckled. Because of course whatever he did his team would back him.

“Agent Hotchner.” A stern voice said from behind them. He turned around to see Jeremy Davis walking towards them.

“Can I speak to you in private please.” He looked back towards David, who just held up his hands and backed away.

“What can I do for you Mr. Davis.” He might have taken a little too much satisfaction in the annoyed look on the man’s face and the title.

“I heard you found my ex son in law. I would like speak with him.” The man sighed, looking away for a second, “I feel like if I talked to him. I can get him to tell us what he did to poor Jesse and resolve this before something terrible happened. Maybe I can stand in his defense, he has been troubled for a while, I can offer him help. Anything. I just want my granddaughter back.”

Maybe it was his own conscience telling him to stand up for Jesse and her father, or maybe it was anger at the senator for covering up his daughters’ crimes but he shook his head. “I’m sorry Mr. Davis, that is against protocol.” Then he turned and called over Morgan, who was standing at the end of the hall watching them. Protective as always.

“What do you need?” Morgan asked.

“Please take Mr. Davis back to his daughter and keep him there.” Morgan nodded.

“Agent…” The older Davis started but Morgan stood in front of him. The man glared at both of them then turned and walked away.

He walked into the bullpen and called his team.  

He didn’t say a word as he pulled them all into his office, where Thomas Macaroy was sitting.

“Tell me about this lawyer and your niece.” He said the second everyone was in the room.

Thomas’s eyes widened, then he took a breath and stood up. “Johnny Tanner. He specializes in abuse, domestic and child. He also sometimes helps with custody disputes. Jesse went to him. Told him everything. He says he can file charges of abuse, from the fight that night. He took pictures and statements from Jesse, her friend, and her friends’ mother. He found a judge that wasn’t connected to Davis and last I knew they were trying to file something granting my brother temporary custody.”

“Are you in contact with Jesse and Tanner now?” He asked.

The man nodded. “I’ve talked to Johnny on the phone a couple times, and Jesse has been texting mi. It’s all from Johnny’s phone. So, you guys wouldn’t know to look for it.”

Hotch looked over at his team. Silently asking them their opinion on what to do.

It was JJ, made their decision, “You know, I have a few more questions for you and your brother Mr. Macaroy please come with me.” The man’s eyes widened but then he nodded and smiled following her out of the room.

“So, we are stalling?” Emily asked. Hotch nodded.

“I’ll go question the mother.” She said walking away.

“I would love to speak with Mr. Davis.” David said happily. Then it was just him and Reid.

“Go to Garcia. Get Tanner’s number. See where he is with his plan.” Reid nodded.

He looked out his office window, then making a decision he walked out and headed for Erin Strauss’s office, and knocked on her door.

“Come in.” She called.

“How much pressure are you getting from the Senator?” He asked.

She looked up a little surprised by his question. “He seems worried. And thinks that he can solve this case by himself. He has asked if he could speak with Daniel Macaroy, I told him it was your case and your call. He did not seem happy. Why?”

“He is covering for his abusive daughter.” He replied. Strauss frowned, “You have proof?” He nodded. She sighed, “What do you need from me?” She asked.

“Time.” He said.

She nodded and he left her office.

Two hours later, much to everyone's surprise Jesse Macaroy and Johnny Tanner walked into Quantico. A warrant for Andrea Davis arrest on abuse and neglect charges. An order of temporary custody for Daniel Macaroy, and a warning to the Senator that Tanner was filing charges for him for abuse of power, filing false reports, and for endangering a child.

Hotch felt relieved watching the girl hug her father after he released him.

“You know, I love when get a happy ending.” David said to him after they were gone. 

“Me too.” He replied, grabbing his jacket and briefcase. He was ready to go home, and outside his office window he could see his team backing up as well. 

As they left his office, David looked at him, “Wanna tell me what’s up with the kid?” Hotch sighed, not sure how to answer that. 

 

“Hate to do this.” Strauss said walking out of her office, “But we have another case.” 


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_ Hotch’s POV  _

 

**_"IDA Scott Taylor wrote: 'Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone, and do not be troubled about the future, for it has yet to come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.'"_ **

  
  
  


“Hate to do this.” Strauss said walking out of her office, “But we have another case.”  He actually felt his team deflate.

“Aaron I need a word.” She said looking at him, then back at the rest of his team, “The rest of you head to the plane. The pilot’s have already been called and Garcia is sending you the files.” She turned and walked back to her office.

Hotch looked out at his team. They stood there for a moment waiting for his signal, he nodded and with a collective sigh, they headed out. He went over to Strauss’s office, not knocking since she was expecting him.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, knowing she hadn’t called him in here just to tell him about the case. 

Strauss sighed and handed him a file. “The murders are eerily similar to case you closed recently.” He nodded, picking it up and opening it. 

“New Orleans?” He asked, skimming over the details, “The Thomas case was in Maryland. I don’t know how they can be connected.” Though he could see the similarities. 

“Copycat?” Strauss asked. 

“The Thomas case wasn’t big news. We stopped it before it could gain a media following. Though I guess it is possible.” He sighed and closed the file. “That doesn’t explain why you called me in here.” He gave her a pointed look. 

“Two of the three victims are past cases of Mr. LaMontagne.” 

Hotch sighed. “Has he been notified?”

She nodded, “In fact, I invited him to join you. He knows these cases better than anyone. And he knows the detective investigating the murders. He could be a big help. He will meet you at the airport.”   _ JJ will not be happy,  _ he thought. 

“That all?” He asked ready to leave. 

“Tread Carefully.” Was his boss’s only reply.  

 

He was surprised to find when he walked out of the building  that Reid was standing leaning against his black SUV. 

He raised his eyebrow at the younger man. Reid just shrugged and walked over to the passenger side door, opened it and got in. Hotch hoped this was Reid’s way of saying he wanted to talk. 

When he got in to car, he started it without a word. Leaving Reid to open up if he wanted. 

“Did you know almost 5% percent of adults in america identify as a member of the LGBTQ community?” Reid asked after he few minutes. 

“No, I didn’t.” He replied. 

“That’s more than 11 million people.” Reid added, “If 11 million people identify that way. Then why do people still believe it’s wrong or act negative towards them?” 

“Because people are cruel.” He said, looking over at his friend. “Because they don’t like things that don’t fit in with their version of  _ normal _ or  _ right. _ ” He saw Reid nod. 

“I think I might be Bisexual.” Reid said again after a brief pause. 

“How do you feel about that?” Hotch asked taking a right turn. It was hard to have this conversation and not being able to watch Reid. To see how he was really feeling not just what he willing to say. 

“I think it makes me nervous.” His friend said, “Like you said people are cruel.” 

“Well, you carry a gun.” He joked, lightly, “I don’t think you have too be to worried about homophobes.” Reid snorted. 

“I’ve been through it before.” Reid mumbled. 

He looked over at Reid. Who barely met his gaze, then he turned back to the road. He heard Reid sigh. 

“I may have been tall, but I young, awkward, and skinny. Plus I dressed like… well like I dress. I made an easy target. Add in the way I talk when I’m nervous.” a deep breath, “In high school and college, there always seemed to be some jerk that was positive I was gay, and they made me their target for all their self denial and hatred.” Another deep breath, “Aaron, I don’t want to have to go through that again.” 

_ Fuck, _ he wished he could pull over. 

“Reid, I can’t guarantee that some asshole won’t make rude comments. I can guarantee that I will be there for you. And that if you ever need a friend you can call me.” He smiled at his friend, “Other than worried about what people might say, how do  _ you _ feel about it?” 

“I think I’m okay.” Reid said, “ It surprised me. But i’m not sure it makes a real difference. I’m still me, awkward, nerdy, and shy,” The shy was mumbled then followed by a chuckle,” I don’t really date, Hotch. I never have. So, finding myself attracted to men, I don’t think it makes that much of a difference...to me.” 

“Reid--” he started but stopped, they were pulling into the airport and he knew Reid didn’t want to have this conversation in front of the others. He pulled up next to the other SUVs not far from the plane and turned off the car. 

“Hey,” He said, looking at Reid. “For what it is worth. I don’t think you should hide a part of yourself. You are talented, loyal, and kind hearted, I think any woman or man would be lucky to have you. And you shouldn’t cut yourself off from the possibility.” To his surprise, Reid leaned across the gap in their seats and hugged him. 

“Thank you.” The young man said, pulling away. 

Hotch was feeling a little better about Reid, as they boarded the plane. It was clear this had been weighing on him and maybe having talked about it helped. 

“Alright, here’s what we got.” He said before even sitting down. Reid moving around him to sit on the long bench, the four seats around their small table already taken. “Three murders in New Orleans.” He leaned off Emily to drop the file on the table. David reached for it, while the others pulled out their tablets. “The detective called us in because the victims all male had been left on the edge of town, alone in their cars. Each shot in the stomach and left to bleed out.”  

“The Thomas case?” David asked. 

He nodded, “Strauss thinks it might be a copycat.” 

He gave them a few minutes to read over their copies of the files. David looked up, “Why haven’t we left yet?” Hotch sighed and looked over his shoulder at the entrance. 

“We are waiting for someone.” He said, wondering if he should tell JJ or wait and let Will do it. 

It seemed fate was on his side, because before he could open his mouth, footsteps were heard behind him and the whole team turned to look at the door, and in walked Will, a small duffle bag in his hand. 

“Will?” JJ asked in surprise. Her boyfriend smiled, dropped his bag on the chair by the door and walked over. 

“I hadn’t gotten to your joining us yet.” Hotch said, moving so that Will could walk passed him to stand by JJ. As he did he saw the panicked look in Reid’s face. It took him less then a second to connect the dots. Reid’s quiet behavior and avoidness hadn’t just been about finding himself attracted to a man. It was because he was attracted to someone he knew, someone who was dating his friend. He sighed and looked away from the other man. 

“It seems two of the victim are connected to past cases of Will’s, he is here to help us.” He said looking back at his team. Again his timing was perfect because he saw Will look back at Reid, quilt on his face, then the man looked away, focusing on the tablet in JJ’s hands. It seemed Will knew about Reid’s attraction. Hotch wasn’t sure if he should get involved. If Will knew maybe he would speak to Reid and help Reid understand that crushes happen. He knew Will was a good man and that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Reid or JJ. 

“I know this one too.” Will said, pulling Hotch from his worries. He looked across the table at the third man’s photo. 

“It was a domestic. A bad one. I tried gettin’ the wife to press charges. I almost had her convinced when he showed up.” The man sighed, “I think about a year later, she was found dead. No one could prove it’d been him.” JJ reached out and took her boyfriends hand. 

“So there is no file?” Morgan asked. 

Will shook his head, “No charges pressed. But I did write up a report. Like i said I was hoping to get her to press charges. So, that might be around somewhere.” 

“Morgan have Garcia look in to.” Morgan nodded and pulled out his phone. 

Hotch took a seat, while, Emily moving over to join him so Will could sit by JJ. 

“How pissed do you think she is?” Emily asked, looking at JJ. 

“I think she will lecture him, the first chance they get to be alone. But I think she understands.” He replied, leaning back closing his eyes. 

 

_ Reid’s POV _

 

He really wished, Hotch had mentioned Will joining them on the drive over. It wouldn’t have stopped it, but it would have giving him some warning. As it was he felt frozen in his seat. He let the team talk over the case, listening only, because he was afraid his voice would give away his inner panic. And when Will had looked back at him, he had wanted to crawl into a ball, because he could see understanding and guilt there. 

Which threw his hope that it had been all his overactive mind, out the window. 

The first hour of the flight wasn’t bad. JJ had pulled Will to the far end of the plane and they had spoken to each other in hushed voice. Until JJ nodded and they came back to their seats. Then Garcia had called to tell them that yes in fact there had been a file, but it had gone missing. 

Though now as the second hour came. His legs has started to cramp and he felt the urge to get up and move around. He looked around, JJ, Rossi, Morgan, and Will were talking around the tiny table. Hotch was sitting with his eyes closed, getting some rest while he could. And Emily was playing around on her tablet. Feeling like it was a safe time to move he stood up and stretched, then started walking towards the end of the plane where they kept the coffee maker. 

“I’ll get you some.” Will said as he walked passed, and Reid felt his heart skip and the man stood up. There was a second where their eyes met and Reid’s stomach tightened. Then the plane jerked. He gasped and stumbled, felling forward, Will’s arm catching him as he slammed into the other man. Then they were both falling towards Will empty seat. 

“Shit.” Will cursed when they landed. Then Reid was pushing himself up, he could see the same panicked look on Will’s face that he knew was on his. 

“Sorry.” He said, not sure if he was talking about the falling or about his feelings. Then he pushed away from the other man and rushed towards the coffee maker. It took until his cup was half empty for his heart to slow down. 

“You okay?” JJ asked coming up next to him, her empty cup set down. 

He nodded as she filled it. 

“Spence,” she said, “you sure? You looked really rattled?”

He gulped, trying to bury the guilty feeling building in him as he looked in her eyes. Then she leaned close and rested her hand on his shoulder, and his feelings shifted, to his normal urge to lean into her. He pulled away. 

“I’m good.” He said forcing a smile. Then he practically ran away… again. He didn’t look at Will when he walked past the man. He did pull out his table and put headphones in, which he hated, but knew it would stop anyone else from trying to talk to him. 

 

 

_ Will’s POV _

 

_ He had not expected that. _ He thought, as Spencer landed on top of him. His body reacted by getting warm and the urge to pull Spencer closer washed over him. He then panicked, because that was wrong, but before he could react, Spence pulled back looked at him. Fear on his face, then he pushed off of him and rushed away. Blood pounded in his ears and he corrected himself in his seat. 

“Man, you okay?” Morgan asked. 

“Yeah.” He lied, truth was he had no idea. 

“I’ll get the coffee.” JJ chuckled grabbing her cup and walking off. He watched her go. Trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with. He  _ loved  _ her. With everything he was. He didn’t understand his sudden attraction to her best friend. He did know he wouldn’t act on it, no matter what his body seemed to think. Though the fear he saw on Spencer’s face, made him want to talk to the other man. Because this was confusing as hell for him he could only imagine how bad it was for his friend. Well, he hoped Spencer was still his friend.  _ Fuck, this was confusing. _

Neither Will nor Reid saw the silent exchanges between Rossi and Hotch, both men had seen not only the fall but the freaked out looks on both man’s faces. Neither saw Rossi look at Hotch, brow raised nor Hotch shake his head, silently telling the older man not to say anything. Thankful the rest of the flight was uneventful. 

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

**Chapter 8:**

 

**_“There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.”_ **

**_– Franklin D. Roosevelt_ **

 

_ Will’s POV _

 

It was strange being back here, after having been away for the last few years. 

 

“Will.” Johnson, his old Captain greeted him hand out to shake.“and this must be the BAU.” 

 

Will took his hand and shook it, though it was JJ who stepped forward to introduce her colleagues. 

 

He smiled watching her. He had fallen in love with her, not just because she was beautiful but because she was fierce and confident. He had been drawn in from their first conversation and that attraction hadn’t wavered. He looked over at Spencer, who seemed to have lost himself in a pile of papers already set aside for the BAU. He sighed. He needed to talk to him. 

 

He moved to do just that, but Johnson called his name. 

 

“Yeah?” He turned to look at his old boss. 

 

“I have all your old reports.” The man handed him a small pile, “I’ve gone over them but I can’t find how else they can be connected, or what it has to do with the other case that your chipper computer lady told me about when she called. But I have the Perry going through everything to see if we have had any other similar cases.” 

 

“Thanks.” He said. Johnson walked away. He looked up finding Spencer again. But JJ was with him, leaning close and whispering. He wasn’t sure if he wanted Spencer to say anything to her, at least not before he could. But he didn’t move to interrupt. Instead he head towards Emily. 

 

“I don’t think these will help.” He said, the brunette looked up at him, “Why not?” 

 

“I know these cases. Bobby was a drunk who hit a lady with his car. Omar, a repeat offender for theft, and Mac’s brother was a wife beater. The only thing they have in common is me. And the only connection I have to the Thomas case is JJ. I think this is about you guys, not me.” She nodded. 

 

“That’s what Hotch thinks too. But he wants us to go through everything just in case.” She pushed the chair next to her out, he sighed and sat down. 

 

He wasn’t sure how long they sat there reading over his old files but at some point he noticed JJ walked past him towards the small kitchen area. Knowing he had to do this, he placed the file he was reading down and followed her. 

 

“Hey JJ, can we talk?” He asked coming up behind her. 

 

She turned to look at him, a concerned look on her face. 

 

He took a deep breath, “ I think I made a mistake.” Her face paled.  _ Shit, _ he thought. 

 

“Not like that.” He quickly said, hoping to stop her thinking he cheated. 

 

“You remember girls night?” She nodded. “When I got home, Spence was fast asleep on the couch, I remembered you were worried he wasn’t gettin’ enough, so I cleared up the spare room and then woke him up. He had wanted to leave, but I wouldn’t let him.” He paused, “ I don’t know what happened, but he was just going to pass out on the bed, I stopped him. And when I reached to help him with his tie,” His throat suddenly got dry, he cleared it, “I flirted.” He said. JJ’s eyes widened. “I wasn’t aware I was doing it, not until I saw Spence’s surprised face.” He took a step towards her, happy she didn’t pull away. “I realized it after I pushed him back, towards the bed, not hard or anything, more playfully, the look on his face, when  he realized what I had done, he started blushing. Hell,” He cursed, “JJ, I was attracted to him.” He looked down. 

 

“You called him Spence.” His girlfriend said, which, was not what he was expecting. 

 

He looked back at her confused, “What?’ He asked. 

 

she shook her head, “Nothing.”

 

Then she smiled. “Will, honey, is this what has been bothering you?”

 

He nodded. 

 

“Thank god,” She whispered, “ I thought you were unhappy,  _ with us _ .” 

 

“Never.” He said, pulling her in for a kiss. She met him halfway. He relaxed as they kissed, his worry slipping away. 

 

“Did…” she asked pulling back, “How did Spence react?” 

 

Then the worry was back, Will looked away.

 

He startled when JJ took his chin and made him look at her.  “I wasn’t sure.” he said, “he was half asleep. But he blushed.” He shrugged, “ I thought maybe he was just embarrassed.”   
  
“But?” JJ proded. 

.

“Today on the plan--.” He was not expecting her to burst out in a fit of giggles. He stood there wide-eyed trying to figure out what hell she thought was so damn funny. 

 

“That explains your faces.” she giggled again. Will felt his face warm and knew he was turning red.

 

“Will?” a still somewhat giggling JJ asked, “ are you blushing?” Which only made it worse. 

 

“JJ,” He whined.

 

“I hope I’m not interrupting.” Hotch’s voice said from behind him. He turned, grateful for the other man's interference. 

 

“Not at all.” JJ said still sounding amused. He closed his eyes trying to stop the redness from returning to his face.

 

“I’m just teasing Will.” He opened his eyes and shot her a ‘don’t you dare glare,’ she smirked at him. Then back at her boss, “What’s up?”

 

“When you are done, “ Will tried not to roll his eyes at the other man’s small smile, “You can Emily need to go interview Mac’s brother. I was going to send Morgan but David thinks you two might throw him off balance.” His girlfriend nodded and her boss walked away. 

 

“ _ Soooo _ ,” She drew out the word, still obviously amused. He looked down again, a little conflicted about how she was taking this. He was beyond happy she wasn’t hurt or angry, but he had not expected her to find it funny. He sighed. 

 

“Will.” JJ said. He looked up at her. “It’s okay. Honestly, attraction happens and Spence,” She smiled, “He makes it easy. He is to good for his own good. Now unless you are planning on running off with him, we’re okay.” 

 

Relief washed over him. He reached out and pulled her against him, pressing a quick kiss against her lips, “Not without you.” He teased her before kissing her again. He loved how she relaxed against him and kissed him back. 

 

“Now,” He said pulling away, “Should I talk to him?” 

 

JJ tilted her head to the side, her hair falling over her shoulder, “No. Knowing Spence he probably feels guilty, maybe confused. I’ll trying to talk to him. See how he is doing.” She pressed a kiss against his cheek, “Now I have to go find Emily.” 

 

“Love you.” He whispered. 

 

“Love you too.”She said, giving him a sweet smile, then left. 

 

He looked out of the kitchen area and towards the conference room, Spencer had been in last. The younger man was still there, going through files. And like he could feel Will’s eyes he looked up and met his gaze. Even from this distance he could see the red spread across Spencer’s cheeks. Then the man frowned and looked back at his papers. Will sighed and went to find Hotch. Maybe the BAU team leader would have something to distract him. 

 

“Anything I can do?” He asked walking up to most of the BAU huddled around a small table. There were photos from the three victims crime scene spread out and a map, with three red dots. 

 

“We have another body.” Johnson said, before Hotch could answer him. 

 

“Another of mine?” He asked. His old captain nodded. 

 

“Dammit.” He swore,“we need to find this guy.” 

 

“We have a profile,” Hotch said, “It’s not complete. But it’s enough to give your men an idea of who they are looking for.” Will’s old captain called in the rest of the officers in the building. 

 

“You’re looking for a white male, late 20’s to early 30’s.” Hotch started. He seems normal, has a job, though it will be something working class.”

 

Morgan added, “ He doesn’t have the drive or patience for a higher end, more stressful job. He has a temper, he wouldn’t be able to last long at one place of work, he needs to ability to move from job to job without drawing attention to it.” 

 

“Which means he moves around alot. He has to, to long at anyone place and people start to notice his anger issues. These killings are not about joy or sport. These are specific victim, which tells us he has after revenge. As for the connection to a previous case by the BAU we think he is trying to get our attention, and in doing so is targeting LaMontagne old cases. “ Rossi finished. 

 

“Now,” Hotch spoke again, “Dr. Reid is working on finding a pattern for how he is picking those cases. Hopefully he will find one and we will have an area to watch to try and find our unsub. Whatever happens, be careful, this man isn’t looking to be taken into custody.” The cops around them nodded their understand and then small gathering broke apart. 

 

“Morgan,” Hotch said, “I want you and Rossi to go speak to the families again, JJ and Emily already are talking to Mac’s brother, see if the locals missed anything.” The two men nodded and walked away. 

 

“What about me?” Will asked, hating not doing anything. 

 

“See if Reid needs help.” 

He looked over his shoulder at the room Spencer was still in, the young genius stood in front of a large map, almost glaring at it. Will smiled. Then frowned. 

 

“I don’t think that is a good idea.” he muttered turning back to look at Aaron. 

 

“Why not?” Hotch asked, but there was an understanding in his eyes that told Will that while he may not have all the details, he knew something about what was going on. He sighed. 

 

“He’s avoidin’ me.” He said with a sad shrug. 

 

“With me.” Was all the other man said before he headed towards the room. Will cursed under his breath but followed.

 

“Reid.” Hotch said, startling the younger man. 

 

Will saw Spencers eyes narrow at the sight of him. Then he looked back at his boss, “What’s up?” He asked. 

 

“Will is going to help you.” Spencer opened his mouth, but Hotch held up his hand, “Not up for debate.” Then Hotchner was turning to walk out of the room, neither Will nor Spencer moved. 

 

“And whatever is going on between the two of you.” Hotch stuck his head back in to room, “Fix it.” Then he was gone again. 

 

“I’m sorry.” Will said before Spencer could say anything. Spence looked up at him, “I shouldn’t have flirted, whether I realized I was doing it or not. Trust me, it took me by surprise too.” He chuckled lightly, “I hope this doesn’t impact, your friendship with JJ or me. Though in honesty JJ thinks it’s funny.” 

 

“You...she…really?” Reid stuttered looking bewildered. 

 

Will laughs, “She giggled when I told her, she said as long as I don’t try and run off with you everything is good.” Reid laughed, a rush of relief running through him. Neither JJ or Will were upset about it. While it wouldn’t stop his attraction to either of them, it atleast took away some of the guilt.

 

“Spence?” Will asked. Almost choking on air when he saw the way Spencer’s face lite up at he nickname.  _ Oh,  _ he thought,  _ Now JJ’s comment made sense. _ “We okay?” 

  
  


Reid nodded smiling, “And just for the record, I didn’t need help removing my tie.” 

 

Will snorted at him, “You couldn’t have done it yourself. Not in the state you were--” Reid cut him off by grabbing his arm and rushing them both out of the room. 

 

“Hotch!” Reid called, finding his boss and moving towards him. 

 

“She had a partner.” he said stopping in front of the other man, “ Emberly Wright had a partner.” 

 

Hotch looked at them, “You sure?” Will shrugged because he had no idea how Reid had jumped to that conclusion. But Reid nodded, “A woman wouldn’t have been able to lift and change the mens clothes, not alone and without messing up the crime scene.” 

 

Hotch considered it then turned and walked out of the room, probably to update everyone about their unsub. 

 

“Spence?” Will asked, smiling when Spencer reddened a little, “How did you get from your tie to her having a partner.” 

 

Spencers slightly red face turned bring crimson and he ducked his head. He mumbled something but it was said more to the floor then to Will. Shaking his head in amusement he walked over and used his hand on Spencer’s chin to raise his head. 

 

“Wanna try that again?” he teased. Spencer’s eyes widened and Will released he was flirting again. He debated stepping back and apologizing again, but he felt stuck in the moment. 

 

Spence cleared his throat and but didn’t pull away, “You said I couldn’t have done it myself, not in the state I was in. It made me realize that she couldn’t have been able to move and redress the men, not alone.” 

 

“Oh.” He said, again neither of them moved. Just standing there in the middle of the station staring at each other. It felt like an eternity before a throat cleared behind Will, causing both of them to jump and pull apart. 

 

When he turned to see Hotchner looking them over, Spencer wasn’t the only one to blush. 

 

“I reached out to the warden at Emberly’s prison. He is going to put her on the phone. If you two aren't busy, I thought you’d want to join me?” Will wasn’t sure what Hotch knew about what was going on, but the man looked like he wasn’t sure if he was amused or not. Though he did shake his head in disbelief before turning and walking into the office behind him. He also wondered what Hotch thought of him, that was twice in the same day that he was caught flirting instead of working. He sighed and shook his head. 

 

“Think she will give us anything thing?” He asked Spencer as they moved towards the same door Hotch had disappeared behind. 

 

“Possibly,” Spencer said opening the door, “She is the type that wouldn’t like that her partner didn’t save her. He is a male, there is a chance she will see it as a betrayal.” 

 

Hotch looked up from a file when they walked in. Garcia on the computer screen behind him. She smiled and waved at them. 

 

“Ready?” She asked. 

 

“Ready.” Spencer answered for the group. 

 

Then the screen changed, to a lower angle facing a bland grey wall. Then a second later a woman sat down. She sneered at them, crossing her arms over her chest. 

 

“Agents.” She hissed out. 

 

“Well she seems lovely.” Will whispered towards Spencer. Who cut of a snort with a fake cough. Hotch gave them both a small glare. But didn’t comment.

 

“Ms.  Wright, We were wondering if you could tell us about your partner?” Hotch asked. The woman’s eyes widened before she could stop herself. Then her face fell blank.

 

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” She said. 

 

“You’re going to protect him?” Will asked, “After he left you to rot in prison alone?” He hoped Spencers theory was right and from the way her jaw clenched, he was sure it was. 

 

“Think of this as payback,” Spence picked up from where he stopped, “He betrayed you. Now you can get back at him.”  Wright’s eyes narrowed and she looked over each of them. 

 

“Bastard.” She cursed after a second, “he should have been with me, that night. But he conveniently had to work. He knew you were coming and didn’t warn me.” She huffed, “Adam Burnington.” She said, then looked at Hotch, “We met in a broken hearts chat room.” 

 

“Those are a thing?” He whispered to Spencer, who gave a small amused smile and nodded. 

 

“He understood me, his boyfriend left him a week before their wedding. Said he wasn’t ready. Pig. So, we talked about it, and about how badly we wanted to hurt them like they had hurt us. We killed his ex first. It was cathartic.” She smirked, “After that we talked about how all the other bastards should pay, he worked at a restaurant, he said it was easy to find men that deserved to die.” 

 

Hotch looked back at Spencer and him, Will didn’t understand the look they were sent but his friend must have because his wrist was grabbed and he was being led out of the room. 

 

When the door closed Spencer pulled out his phone, “Garcia look up Adam Burnington. His ex was our first victim. Rossi talked to him during the original case. See if you can find where he is now. Thanks.” Then he hung up. 

  
  


**_“There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.”_ **

**_– Franklin D. Roosevelt_ **


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New note (6/23/19): Does anyone on here draw? or know someone that does? I'm trying to find someone to help me with a fantasy map for an epic story I'm working on but as I'm currently broke, its damn near impossible. I was hoping to find someone who does it for fun and wouldn't mind helping me out. Please email me if you or someone else might be interested.

 

 

**_"Does this darkness have a name? This cruelty, this hatred. How did it find us? Did it steal into our lives or did we seek it out and embrace it? What happened to us? That we now send our children into the world like we send young men into war, hoping for their safe return. But knowing that some will be lost along the way. When did we lose our way? Consumed by the shadows, swallowed whole by the darkness. Does this darkness have a name? Is it your name?"_ **

**_\--One tree hill._ **

  
Reid’s POV

Garcia didn’t get a chance to call them back before Johnson rushed into the room, “We got a 911 call, Shawn O'Brien, someone has broken into his house. I sent officers and then came to find you.” 

“I arrested him for armed robbery.” Will told them. Johnson nodded obviously remembering the name. Understanding what was going on Reid rushed into the office, “Hotch we might have a location.” His boss nodded. And in less than five minutes the rest of the team had been called and Reid,Hotch, and Will were in one of their SUV’s headed for O’Brien’s house. 

The two cops that had left before them were already pulled in front of the house, their car’s empty and from the moving flashlights Reid could see from the front window, they were inside. He lined up behind Hotch, feeling Will fall in behind him, and they moved into the house. 

It takes several minutes to clear the house, which is empty, aside for the body on O’brien living room floor. 

“That’s not O’brien.” Will said after he walked over to look at the body. Reid had seen Adam Burinington’s photo and knew it wasn’t him either. 

“A friend.” Hotch guessed. Which meant they had just missed Adam but he had taken O’brien with him. 

“Now what?” Will asked, holstering his gun. 

“Garcia.” Reid and Hotch say together. Then his boss pulled out his phone and called her. 

“I haven't been able to get a location yet, boss.” She said instead of hello. 

“We need you to track a phone.” Hotch said in returned. “Shawn O’Brien.”

“On it.” 

Then all they could hear was her typing away at her keyboard.

“Got it.” She says excitedly, “I’ll send the address to the teams phones.” Then there was a chorus of beeps as their phones went off. Reid tried to not to smile, because there was a dead body a few feet away, at the shocked look on Will’s face when his phone beeped along with Reid and Hotch's. The detective must have thought he wasn’t part of the team. Which was stupid, he was part of their weird family, which meant part of the team. Reid brushed his shoulder against the man, trying to tell him that. Will gave him a tiny smile.  

Without anything else to do they loaded back into the SUV and headed to the address Garcia gave them.

Reid could tell Hotch wasn’t happy. Garcia had managed to track the phone to a small group of buildings at the edge of town. Unfortunately she couldn’t tell which building O’brien and Adam where in. 

“We have to split up.” Morgan said, looking carefully at Hotch. The whole team knew their leader didn’t like the idea but that it was also there only move, unless they wanted to wait for the local cops to drive out. But Reid knew that would lead to antsy and unsure deputies moving around and could be more of a problem then there team splitting up. 

Hotch narrowed his eyes, looking at the team. “David, I want you and Emily to take the first building. JJ and Morgan, the second. Will and Reid will take the third. I will try calling Adam, see if I can start talking him down.” Everyone started to break apart, “Guys,” Hotch called their attention back, “Be Careful. He is out to get us, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he fired before we got a chance to talk.” Reid like the rest of his team nodded.  

They didn’t speak as they made their way towards the furthest building. Reid could feel his heart pounding as he led Will around the dark building. It was slow work, edging their way along. Keeping to the showers and trying to peek inside to two small windows they came across. It was to dark inside of the building to see anyone, not even there flashlights helped much. 

He spotted a worn door a couple feet ahead of him and held up his hand. He heard Will stop moving. Carefully he reached out and grabbed the handle. It turned and he pulled it as cautiously as he could. Hopping it wouldn’t make any noise and alert anyone to their presence.

“Reid!” Shouted Will. Reid didn’t really hear it over the sudden explosion that rang out around him. Something slammed into him sending him flying to the side, just as scorching heat and flames surged over him. His head hit the ground and pain radiated around his skull. He tried to move, to look around, but black spots appeared over his eyes and then everything went black.  
  
  


**_Hotch’s Pov_ **

 

“Garica, I needed you call Burinington’s phone and patch me through.” Aaron said. He was standing next to one of the teams SUV’s feeling uneasy. He hated splitting up his team, especially when they were after someone who was after them. It always let him on edge. He knew it was necessary but it still didn’t sit right with him. 

“You got it, boss.” Garcia said in his ear. 

Then he could only hear ringing, when the phone didn’t stop ringing, his unease grew. He was tempted to ask for a team check in, through their coms. But he didn’t want anyone of them to risk speaking, not when they were trying to sneak up on Burinington 

“Hotch.” Garcia called his attention back to her. 

“What?” He asked. 

“I got Burinington file. His exmilitary. Dishonorable discharge for behavioral problems and assaulting his commanding officer. Oh, “ She gasped and Aaron’s whole body went rigid, “Hotch, he specialized in IEDs.” 

Before he could shout at a warning to his team, a loud bomb ricocheted through the buildings and the ground shook. He stumbled against the SUV. He looked up to see flames engulfing the last building.  _ Reid and Will!!   _ He shoved his phone in his pocket, hearing GArcia screaming his name through the speaker, and took off running.   
  
  


**_Reid’s Pov_ **

 

_ Ringing. _ That was the first thing Reid noticed when he came too. Then it was the smell of fire and smoke. It caused him to shot upwards, or at least he tried too. But his body was pinned beneath something and it took his eyes a second to realize it was another body. Fear surged through him as he shouted Will’s name and tried to lift the man off him. 

He could see flames out of his peripheral vision, which caused him to start to panic as he pulled and shifted Will off him and too his back. He took a relieved breath went he found a pulse coming from the other man. He tried to ignore the pounding of his head and the heat from the approaching fire as he searched Will for anyone wounds. Between the dirt and soat he couldn’t find much, at least nothing bleeding. So, he stumbled to his feet and tried to be gentle as he pulled Will further away from the burning building. 

“-ied” It was distant and muffled. But he stopped moving and lowered Will to the ground. The man blinked a couple times and tried to sit up. His face paled from pain and Reid had to reach down to stop Will from tumbling backwards.

“You okay?” He asked, though he couldn’t really hear the words. Will nodded and tried to stand again. It only to a second and both of them but they finally got Will to his feet and they slowly moved away the building. There was a shout to his right, on instinct Reid tried to turn towards it. Which meant him and Will stumbled and then fell to the ground. Reid grunted as Will landed on top of him. Reid had a second of deja vu when Will pushed himself up and held himself up over Reid. He tried to give him, _ ‘I’m okay’, _ smile as Will’s eyes roamed over him, checking him for damage. The detective asked him something but it was lost on Reid’s damaged ears. When Reid didn’t respond Will frowned and shifted so he could use one hand to turn Reid’s head to the side to look at his ears. 

“Sorry.” Reid said, or yelled, he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure if Will said anything back, but his head was gently turned to the other side. Reid was a just little grateful for the situation because it meant his brain didn’t get a chance to panic over their position or the tender handing from the other man. 

“Can we get up now?” He asked. Will turned his head back so they were face to face, the man still wore a frown but he nodded and pushed himself off Reid and then helped him to his feet. 

They both were unsteady on their feet and leaned into each other for support. Though it was only necessary for a second before JJ and Hotch were at their sides. Both looking panicked and talking, their voices were muted and Reid pointed to his ears, “can’t hear,” he said. Both nodded and then he was moved so Hotch was carrying his weight instead of Will. 

It took him until they were back at the SUV to notice that Derek, David, and Emily weren’t with them. 

“Where’s Morgan, Rossi, and Emily?” He asked, seeing Hotch wince at the volume. “Sorry.” He muttered. 

Hotch pulled out his phone and typed something before handing it Reid. 

**They have Burinington and O’brien in the middle building**

Reid handed it back, “They okay?” Hotch nodded, and typed something else on his phone. 

**JJ is going to stay with you and Will. I’m going see to check on the others.**

Reid understood and nodded, “be safe.” he said. 

  
  


**_David’s POV_ **

 

David followed behind Emily as they made their way into their building and carefully searched it. He could tell his partner was getting frustrated by finding nothing room after room, by the irritated huffs she kept letting out every time a room was empty. He could understand it, this unsub was targeting specific victims to get there attention, though he found himself getting annoyed by her show of annoyance. He debated telling her that when they entered a small storage room to find both unsub and victim standing in the middle of the room.  The victim O’Brien was shaking and David could see how pale he was from where they entered the room. 

Burinington on the other hand had a huge grin on his face as he held a knife to the other man’s throat. David not wanting a frustrated Emily to try an handle the negotiations opened his mouth to speak. A loud explosion nearby rocked the building they were in. somehow all four people remained on their feet. David and Emily’s guns still pointing at unsub. They both heard Hotch’s scream of Will and Reid’s names. He saw Emily look at him from the corner of her eye. Silinely asking him what to do. As badly as he wanted to go see if their friends were alive, he knew they had to handle this first. 

“Adam Burinington, put down the knife.” He shouted. The man snarled at him and pressed the blade more against O’brien’s neck. The man winced but didn’t move. He looked to scared too. 

“You’re under arrest.” Emily said in a quiet but sure voice. Burinington glared at her and added pressure to the blade. David could see a small trail of blood appear just under it. He steadied his hand, not thinking about talking the man down. It was clear he had no plans to surrender. 

“I just killed your teammates,” The man laughed, “And you think your going to arrest me?” 

David saw movement behind the man, and stepped forward getting the pissed off unsubs attention on him. 

“I think you have no intention of letting us arrest you.” The man laughed and has his hand moved to cut his victim again, a shot rang out, both men stumbled and fell forward. David ran towards them shoving Burinington’s body off of O’briens. 

 

“I’m alive.” The man muttered bewildered and dazed. 

Emily smiled at him, “Yes you are.” 

“Nice shot.” David said look up to Morgan just as Hotch ran into the room. Their leader has his gun out and took a quick look around before lowering. 

“Everyone okay?” He asked. 

Instead of answering him and Morgan asked, “Reid and Will?”

“Beat up, but okay. JJ is with them.” Hotch answered.

It took a good 10 minutes before the locals showed up and took O’brien, Reid, and Will to the hospital. JJ took the opportunity to ride with them. Leaving the rest of the team to handle the clean up. All of which were anxious and frustrated at having to wait to see if their friends were really okay. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not beta read so all Mistakes are mine.

**Chapter 10**

**Will’s POV**

 

**_Your desire for what you want just has to be greater than your fear of it. That’s all. --Neil Strauss_ **

  
  


Will winced when JJ walked in the room looking at him like he had fucked up. He tried to smile at her only to wince again from the pain. 

“Don’t ever do that to me again.” She said moving to the side of his bed. He forced a smile through the pain, “I ain’t plannin’ on it.” Her glared faded as little as she tried not to smile. 

“How’s Spencer?” He asked, reaching out to take her hand. 

JJ sighed, “He’s okay. David says they’re waiting for the x-rays results.” 

“That’s good.” He said relieved. The panic he had felt when he noticed the small wire behind the door had been overwhelming. He had lunged at the younger man without really thinking about it. It had to have knocked him out because the next thing he knew Spencer was trying to drag him away from the building. He said Spencer’s name a couple times, worried when he didn’t get a reaction, he shouted it. Which finally got the genius’s attention. He hadn’t realized his own hearing was damaged until Reid said something back and it came out muted.  

It took him a second to realize JJ was staring at him. Confused, “What?” he asked. 

She shook her head, “nothing.” 

“You sure?” He asked because it looked like she wanted to say something. Before she could answer his door opened and the doctor walked in. He was an elder man who Will had already talked when he first came in. 

“Mr. LaMontagne, your a very lucky man. You have two cracked ribs and a good amount of bruises but we didn’t find anything broken.” 

“Can I fly?” He asked. He wanted to get home. He didn’t like the idea of being stuck here for a couple days or driving back. 

The doctor gave him a small frown. “It will be painful.

"I can handle it.” Will said. “Just wanna get home.”

The doctor gave him a resigned look, “I’ll prescribe--” the man was cut off by a knock on Will’s door. He looked up as Emily stuck her head it.

“Can I come in?” She asks with a smile. 

“Of course.” JJ replied, giving her friend and colleague a smile. 

“How are you?” The dark haired profiler asked him. 

“I’m good. Doctor says I can fly.” 

“That’s good. I think we all want to get home. Hotch sent Rossi and Morgan to pick up food. I’ll message and tell them to head to the plane. Think you, “ She looked at JJ, “are up for going to the hotel with me to get the boy’s things?” JJ looked down at him. She didn’t look like she wanted to leave him. He reached out and took her hand, bringing it to his lips he gave it a quick kiss. 

“JJ, I’m okay. Go. The sooner you go the sooner we get home.” His loving girlfriend still looked unsure but she sighed, resigned to the fact he wanted to get out of the hospital. 

“Fine.” She muttered pulling her hand away from him. She leaned over him and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll be right back.” She whispered. He sighed as her and Emily left the room. 

 

“Hey, Doc?” He said after a second, grateful the man was still there, “Can you help me sit up?” He heard the man huff, but no comment was made. It wasn’t as bad as he was expecting. A sharp pain when the doctor helped pull him into a seated position and then a painful breath when he got off the bed. Once he was standing the pain was manageable. 

“We have a pharmacy on the first floor,” The doctor said, handing him a slip of paper, “I would recommend taking one a half hour before your plane takes off. With food.” 

“Thanks.” 

The doctor didn’t stick around after that and neither did Will. He found his phone, surprisingly it still worked, texted JJ to ask what room Reid was in. When she replied he wandered off to find Reid and probably Hotch. 

He was just about to knock when he heard Hotchner say his name. 

“... and Will.” Hotch said. Despite knowing he should eavesdrop he found his hand frozen in the air an inch away from the door.

“We’re okay,” He heard Spencer reply, “We talked about it.”  _ Oh, _ Will thought, Hotch wanted to know about what was happening between them.  _ Did the FBI agent think they were fighting? Or did he know the truth?  _ Nervous he moved a little closer to the door.

“Then why do you look so defeated?” Will closed his eyes. Hotch knew the truth, and the man could tell Spence was upset. Will hated that the younger man was hurting, he wished he could help but he wasn’t sure if there was anything he could do. Expect up some distance between them. No matter what JJ joked about. Being attracted to someone fine but Will was finding he was reacting more to the young genius more that he wanted. Even during an extreme situation he had found his body enjoying the feel of the other man beneath him. He had lost his breath and it wasn't because of his damaged ribs. 

“It’s just a crush, Hotch, I’ll get over it.” Will opened his eyes feeling relieved. Maybe with some distance him and Spence could sort themselves out and things could go back to normal. He against raised his hand to knock on the door. But again was stopped when Hotchner spoke. 

“True. You know it kind of makes sense. You’re crush on Will. You were always been close friends with JJ. You care for her and even had feelings for her in the past. So, being attracted to someone that loves and cares for her isn’t that big of a stretch.” Huh, Will never thought about it like that,  “Add in Will is smart, loyal, caring, and strong, it’s easy to see why you are both attracted to him.” The detective found himself blushing at the man’s words. Then the part where he said feeling for her stuck him. _ Spence had liked JJ?  How had he not known that? _

“I get it.” he heard Spencer whisper, “but what do I do about it?”  He winced at how lost Spence sounded. 

“Same thing you did with JJ, move on.” 

There was a pause before Will heard Hotch speak again.  “Reid? You did move on right?” Will’s world stopped. All he could do was focused on the conversation on the other side of the door.  _ Did Spence still like JJ?  _ He let out a breath,  _  Poor kid, _ he thought, having a crush on not one but two people who were already in a relationship together, that had to be hard. 

“I tried.” Spencer sounded sad and maybe a little panicked, like he was afraid of what Hotchner would say. “I really did. But I couldn’t. Not with she meet Will or they had Henry. It should have been easy. Her falling in love and having a kid should have been enough for me to stop…” The younger man’s voice dropped, “wanting her. But it wont for away. Whenever she’s around it’s just…better.” Will’s heart broke, this wasn’t a crush. 

“Oh, Reid.” He heard Hotch say, and he knew the other man had the same thought he had. 

“What?” Will let his head fall back against the wall. How naive their young genius was that he didn’t know the difference between love and a crush. It was strange Will felt he should be upset or worried but all he wanted to do was comfort the very confused young man and explain it to him.   _ What the hell was he going to do? And should he tell JJ?  _

“Have you ever been in love?” His eyes shot open. He wasn’t sure Spence was ready for this conversation.  “I think you need to reassess your feelings.” He pushed away from the wall and reached his hand out. He heard Spence ask, ““What do you mean?” just as he knocked on the door. Not waiting for a response his stuck his head in and gave both men a cheerful smile. 

“Can I come in?”    
  
  


**_Reid’s POV_ **

 

He hated hospitals. The smell of cleaner and white walls always gave him a headache and the memories from his childhood made his skin crawl. Which was why he was begging Hotch to get him out of there. 

“Reid, we can’t just leave.” The older man scolded him, “We have to sign your release forms and then wait for Will.” 

“I hate hospitals.” He muttered, kicking his legs out. He was sitting on the edge of the small bed. Legs hanging off. He was just tall enough that his feet could be placed flat on the ground, instead he was swinging them kick an over energized child. He was on edge and it was a helpful way to expel some of the built up energy.  

“I know.” His boss said. 

“Besides this gives us a minute to talk without any of the others around.”  Hotch said moving to stand in front of him. 

_ Uh oh,  _ Reid thought, looking up at his bosses face. Hotch had small soot on his right cheek and looked exhausted as Reid felt. 

“What about?” He asked not quite meeting the other man’s gaze. 

“You and Will.” Hotch said. He didn’t sound mad. Which was good, but he did sound worried which always made Reid feel a little guilty. He looked down at the ground. 

“We’re okay,” He reassured the other man, “we talked about it.” He shrugged his shoulders like it was no big. Which  was a lie, but he didn’t want Hotch to know that. Sure, they had talked about it and he had felt relieved about JJ and Will not being mad at him. But that didn’t help how he felt and he wasn’t sure if there was anything he could do about his feelings. Other than locking them up and trying to forget about them, like he had tried so many times before. 

“Then why do you look so defeated?” Hotch asked in a quiet voice. 

_ Stupid proflier, _ Reid thought. 

“It’s just a crush, Hotch, I’ll get over it.” He looked up and tried to give a hopeful smile. 

“True.” Hotch said returning the smile. “You know it kind of makes sense.” Reid gave Hotch a confused look, “You’re crush on Will. You were always been close friends with JJ. You care for her and even had feelings for her in the past. So, being attracted to someone that loves and cares for her isn’t that big of a stretch.” Reid blushed and looked at his hands. Trying to hide his discomfort. Not that Hotch wouldn’t see it. But maybe he would get lucky has his friend would ignore it.  “Add in Will is smart, loyal, caring, and strong, it’s easy to see why you are both attracted to him.” Reid really wanted Hotch to stop talking. He knew his friend was trying to be understanding and help him understand his attraction to his best friends boyfriend but it wasn’t helping. It was making it worse. 

“I get it.” he whispered, “but what do I do about it?” He asked, looking away from his hands and at Hotch. 

“Same thing you did with JJ, move on.” hotch said with a shrug. Reid dropped his head.  _ Move on,  _ He thought,  _ something he hadn’t actually been able to do.  _ He had faked it. Well enough that everyone assumed he stopped like JJ but he wasn’t sure if he could do it again. It hurt to much. The only plus side was that Will didn’t work with him. Which meant he didn’t have to see the man every day. 

“Reid?” Hotch’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked up, brow raised. 

“You did move on right?” He tried not to shift under the scrutinizing look the other man was giving him. He shook his head. Hotch let out a slow breath. 

“I tried.” Reid said, trying to get the other man to understand. “I really did. But I couldn’t. Not with she meet Will or they had Henry. It should have been easy. Her falling in love and having a kid should have been enough for me to stop…” He lowered his voice, “wanting her. But it wont for away. Whenever she’s around it’s just…” He tried to think of the right word. The one that would make Hotch comprehend, “better.” he finally whispered, though he wasn’t sure that word was good enough. 

“Oh, Reid.” The older man muttered.

“What?” He asked.

“Have you ever been in love?” Confused by the question he shook his head. 

“I think you need to reassess your feelings.” 

“What do you mean?” He asked, but there was a knock on the door, cutting off any further talk. 

“Can I come in?” Will asked sticking his head inside the door. 

Reid gave the man a smile. “How are you feeling?” 

“I’m good. Doc says I can fly, What about you?” Will said leaning against the wall, Reid noticed the quick studying look the detective gave him. 

“A bump on the head and a few bruises.” Reid replied, trying to ignore the way his heart started racing at the once over Will gave him. Like the man was checking to make sure he was okay. He met Will’s eyes and for second it was like everything outside of the other man’s blue eyes. 

A throat cleared startling both of them. Reid tried not to blush when he looked at his boss. Who was giving both him and will an exasperated look. 

“Where is everyone else?” Hotch asked looking at Will. 

The detective quickly gave them the run down of the teams whereabouts and plans. After that Reid rushed to gather his things then hunted down his doctor so he could sign all the paperwork he needed to get out of there. The car ride was awkward and not just because Reid was hyper aware of Will in the back seat but because Hotch gave giving both him and the New Orleanian worried look in  the rear view mirror. 

 

**_“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”_ **

**_― E.E. Cummings_ **


End file.
